Cornwall and Devon

Tavistock 34

Plymouth Barbarians 5

TAVISTOCK went into the game missing three key players playmaker Doug Lloyd, Pete Rodgers and William Tomkins and the home side keen to add to their nine match winning streak after the Christmas break.

Tavistock kicked off with the wind at their backs and immediately pinned the visitors in their own half. George Rodgers collected a loose clearance and set up an attack, linking well with centres Dan Luffman and Ross Batton. The Barbarians were forced into conceding a penalty. Skipper Lloyd James elected to kick for the corner and the forwards set up a catch and drive lineout — Ewan Smith released the backs and returning fullback Will Glover ghosted into the line and showed superb pace to slice through the defence to score in the corner. Richard West converted from wide out to make it 7-0.

Tavistock were quick to add to their opening score; from the kick-off Andrew Griffiths went charging at the opposition. Dan Oner and James Bruna were in support to secure the breakdown. West, using the conditions superbly, kept Tavistock moving forward. Tavistock forced a five metre scrum; the front three of Matt Martin, James, and youngster Adrian Baker worked tirelessly all match against much bigger opponents to produce good ball. Smith was held up just short, he managed to overload out of the tackle to Duncan Law who dived over to score, 12-0. The Barbarians came back gamely to test the Tavistock defence, but aggressive tackling from Oner and Greg Fairchild kept them out. Excellent communication and organisation by the backs closed down any space out wide.

Tavistock were next to score, again they had worked their way deep into the visitors half through strong running from Luffman and the industrial Rodgers.

The pace of the Tavistock game play was too much and the Barbarians gave away another penalty. Another great lineout taken by Andrew Kaka, who with Bruna ruled the airways, produced a catch and drive move which West was mysteriously at the bottom of the pile of bodies to score, to give a halftime score line of 17-0.

The second half started the way the first finished, with Tavistock dominating the possession and playing an exciting brand of running rugby.

West varied the play and utilised his runners nicely; James and Martin offering tight lines and Fairchild showing his dancing feet, bamboozling the defenders on the wing. Wth the whole team contributing Tavistock created an overlap out wide on the right wing and Bruna was on the end of the move to crash over, 22 -0.

To their credit, the Barbarians never gave up. Tavistock got a little sloppy for a 10 minute spell, missing a few tackles and giving away cheap penalties. From a lineout close to the Tavistock line, the Barbarians set up a maul and their bigger pack were unstoppable from short range, 22-5.

Tavistock brought on subs Josh O'Neil, Mark Friend, and David Goodspeed. O'Neil was aggressive in the tight and Friend was rampaging in the loose. The mercurial Goodspeed popping up all over the pitch to test the defence.

Batton was next to score, Smith released him in the midfield and Batton ran over the opposition number 10 before handing off the next would be tackler with tremendous force and finally carried the fullback over the line on his back in a great display of strength, West converted 29 – 5. Goodspeed was then sin binned for the remainder of the match. Undeterred Tavistock got the last score of the contest; fine hands put in Bruna for his second score of the game to make it 34-5.

This capped off a great performance and sealed Tavistock's tenth win in a row.