Cornwall and Devon

TAVISTOCK RFC 24

PIRATES AMATEURS 12

TAVISTOCK treated their supporters to one of the side’s best performances of the season, securing a try bonus point win over a combative Pirates side.

The Moorlanders started brightly and moving the ball to the left Ethan Lamerton put Jack Easton into space. Easton released winger Ash Toll who broke clear and made a neat pass back inside to Easton who scored in the corner.

Pirates came back but some strong tackling from Hammy Kerswill, Hallam Bourton and Doug Morgan-Thomas kept them at bay and caused the Pirates to lose possession. Ash Toll pounced on the spilled ball and took his chance to race the length of the pitch and score a fine individual try.Ed Nettleship added the conversion.

Tavistock were now looking to cut loose and number eight Andrew Schuttkacker and second rows Leon Cole and Seb Cox all made line breaks.

Tavistock’s powerful front row of Charlie Charlton, Hammy Kerswill and Joe Hair made sure the home side’s scrum was in the ascendency and was perhaps unlucky not to have secured more penalties as they marched the Pirates pack backwards. A quick break down the right-hand side by scrum half Hamish Dawson and winger Louis Cockcroft was halted at their opponent’s 22 before the forwards took it on. This ended with a determined drive from prop Charlton, scoring in the right-hand corner; Jack Easton added the tricky conversion, giving the home side a 19 — 0 lead at half time.

The Pirates looked to move the ball wider in the second half but Tavistock’s backline held strong with centre Ethan Lamerton and full back Jack Glover driving the opposition back in the tackle. The Moorlanders’ determined defence seemed to make their visitors tire and scrum half Dawson started to make a number of darting breaks around the spaces now appearing around the rucks. One of these breaks saw his clever footwork take him right through the middle of the visitors’ defence and add the all-important fourth try. After securing the bonus point score Tavistock were perhaps guilty of a lapse in concentration and after conceding a series of penalties they ended up losing a player to the sin bin.

The Pirates capitalised on this and forced their way back into contention with two tries in quick succession. Fortunately for Tavistock they regained their composure and pinned the Cornish side back in their own half with some decent kicking from hand from Nettleship and Dawson. This left the Pirates having to run the ball from deep and forced them into conceding several penalties, which helped Tavistock see the game out for a well-deserved win.