Cornwall and DevonTavistock RFC 45Hayle 19TAVISTOCK welcomed Hayle to Sandy Park on the back pitch due to the poor weather conditions. Despite this the rain held off and home spectators were subjected to some fine rugby and result to follow.

The opening period was perhaps the Moorlanders’ best in recent years with the try bonus point being sealed in the first half hour. It was Josh Birch who opened the scoring when good inroads from captain Schuttkacker and centre Craddock led to Hayle short of numbers in defence and an easy run in for Birch to finish; Nettleship converted.

The second score was of contrast when a well set driving maul was finished off by Jasper Cameron who had another simple dot down. Craddock ran an excellent line off Jamie Legg, who produced a superb offload to score the home side’s third before Australian Hamish Dawson scored the Tavistock try of the season with a dainty chip and chase from half way to seal the bonus point.

Leon Cole finished the half with a mirrored try of Craddock’s previous efforts to bring the half time score to 33-0 against the slope with Nettleship converting four out of five of his efforts.

The second half saw an improved Hayle performance and they were rewarded with an early score. Almost immediately, however, the home side struck back when Ethan Lamerton bundled over from close range. There was a period of good defence from Hayle but a length of the field interception and well worked try in midfield saw a late comeback from the Cornish guests.

Sam Northmore for Tavistock continued to spoil the visitors comeback with some excellent defence work leading to his man of the match performance.

Tavistock got the final word when a turn over from substitute Jack Jones saw an excellent clearance from Dawson turned over deep in the Hayle 22, a good set of phases saw loanee Ben Tharme cross in the corner for his debut try for the club.

‘The first 35 minutes was the best I have seen in three years from us,’ said player-coach Hammy Kerswill. ‘Something just clicked. Everyone turned up on time, the warm-up went well and everything was quite relaxed. The continuity of our play was superb. The first 35 minutes was a joy to watch.’

Kerswill was a bit disappointed that Tavistock let Hayle come back after going 33-0 up in the first half, but he was just thrilled with the overall performance.