NORTH Tawton RFC men’s 1st XV travelled to the home of Exeter Athletic with confidence after last week's performance against league leaders Exmouth.

As it turned out, while they secured a good win and broke the 50-point mark, it won’t be remembered as the best game of the season.

It was a game almost played in three parts- after the first 10 minutes, North Tawton found themselves 12-nil down and hardly getting out of their own half due to what is now becoming a common theme, a slow start to the game.

The next period, taking up the rest of first half, saw the side from Tawton come crashing to life and get five unanswered tries, be they from some good rugby or by some very poor defending by the hosts.

Three tries from the always busy captain Ryan Goss, one for Dan Quin (making a rare appearance) and one try for the ever-reliable Cam Rickerby. All of the conversion attempts were successfully slotted by Liam Pyle to take Tawton into the break ahead at 12-35.

North Tawton then picked up where they left off, George Nye and Dave Borne crossing the white line next to surely put the outcome beyond any reasonable doubt.

Exeter Athletic did respond though and found a higher gear of their own. It was their turn to dominate, scoring three tries on the bounce to cut the deficit to 18 points, at 29-47.

While still comfortably ahead, a Cam Rickerby score to stem the host’s flow came at the right time. The hosts had the last laugh and scored to make it 36-54 but all in all, North Tawton were good for the win, playing in heavy conditions.

Picking up one or two more injuries hasn’t done them many favours though ahead of their next game, another trip to Exeter on Saturday, February 28, but this time to face the Engineers rather than Athletic.