Saltash first XV 48

Tavistock first XV 5

TAVISTOCK travelled to highly rated Saltash who had been on a run of form; winning their last five matches, while Tavistock were in need of a victory after losing their last three.

After an improved preparation, Tavistock were out of the blocks firing and only took seven minutes to get on the score sheet when Mark Friend picked from the base and bundled over to the surprise of Saltash. With this, Saltash’s tails were up but despite the sudden sin binning of Charlie Charlton for a deliberate knock on, they could not quite break the Tavistock defence. Unfortunately this was merely a honeymoon period for the Devon side as four tries in quick succession were scored by Saltash bringing the half time score to 22-5.

The second half started as a stalemate despite Saltash entertaining much of the possession. Dan Clark and Doug Lloyd were prominent in defence but as the strong Saltash contingent found their form it became one way traffic in favour of the hosts. They added a further four tries late on as Tavistock simply could not answer the depth and pace at which the home side kept the ball alive.

A difficult trip away but many positives for what was a young Tavistock side — one of which being the debut of 18 year-old Seb Cox who came off the bench to make himself prominent in the second row and around the park.