Tavistock Colts 12

Okehampton Colts 19

TAVISTOCK Colts are finding themselves becoming the ‘nearly’ men of this league after pushing another of the top sides right up until the final moments of a game.

The home side started positively, despite some of the team playing out of position. Will Trembath played his first game as hooker and put in a sterling effort against some big robust Okehampton forwards. Nevertheless, Oke struck first early in the game driving over for a seven point score and things looked a bit ominous for the Moorlanders.

Tavistock dug deep and quickly bounced back with forwards and backs combining effectively. Prop Ben Luke made a telling drive, stopping just short of the line. Harry Jeans reacted quickest latching on to the loose ball and driving over; Tavistock though missed the conversion.

The home side then had a spell on the front foot and well placed grubber kicks from Chris Watts and Ben Milligan kept Tavistock in the Okehampton half, with winger Billy McNicol chasing for all he was worth. As the half came to an end Okehampton started to build a head of steam with some good runs from their outside backs and impressive drives from their forwards.

Some strong tackling from forwards Theo Cousins, Will Gardner, Ollie Plummer, Ethan Lamerton and Morgan Warnett, however, managed to prevent any further score before half time.

The second half see-sawed between the sides with both teams looking to run the ball. Okehampton scored first after going wide and squeezing over in the left hand corner. Tavistock came back though with centre Dom Hall leading the way through some great running lines and neat off loads. Ben Milligan placed a kick neatly in the in goal area for his back row to chase only to see it trickle over the dead ball line before they could get there.

Sean Donnelly put in a shift making some big tackles and forcing his opponents to drop the ball. A further run from Newton saw him create space for winger Jack Base, who raced down the right wing to finish well. Jono Wisdom slotted the tricky conversion to tie the score.

This set up a nail biting conclusion and the visitors were quickly back on the attack. Tavistock again defended bravely but could not clear their lines and a quick tap penalty from Okehampton saw their scrum half dart over for the winning score.