Cornwall and Devon

PLYMOUTH ARGAUM 7

TAVISTOCK 14

TAVISTOCK followed up last week’s home win with their first away win of the season against local rivals Plymouth Argaum.

An impressive defensive display underpinned this victory, with the whole 18-man squad playing their part.

The Moorlanders chose to play up the slope in the first half and were soon on the front foot with the front five of Hammy Kerswill, Phil Wilson, Charlie Charlton, Leon Cole and Seb Cox getting the upper hand in the scrums.

Keeping the ball in hand paid dividends and strong running from back rowers Andrew Schuttkacker and Doug Morgan-Thomas ensured Argaum were struggling for possession. Tavistock spent a large part of the first 30 minutes in the Argaum 22 and this pressure told when a series of drives from close range eventually resulted in Schuttkacker diving over to open the scoring.

The away side were soon back on the offensive and were unlucky when centre Josh Birch was unable to hold on to fly half Ethan Lamerton’s off load out of the tackle when he had a clear path to the line. Argaum started to get some momentum in the later stages of the first half but some hard tackles from wingers Ash Toll and Louis Cockcroft helped keep them at bay.

Playing with the slope in the second half, Tavistock started strongly and early pressure forced a five metre scrum. Scrum half Hamish Dawson was quick off the base and he fed Lamerton who dived over to score under the posts. Dawson added the conversion. Second half substitutes Ash Martin, Jamie Legg and Andrew Craddock all continued the levels of physicality when they came on. Legg carried the ball hard and Martin, coming into the front row, kept the pressure on the home side’s scrum.

An Argaum change at fly half saw them start to move the ball a bit wider but they were met with a red and black wall, which sent them backwards.

Playing fly half but tackling like a flanker, Lamerton led the defensive effort and he capped a man of the match display when he combined with fullback Jack Glover to make a try saving tackle in the right hand corner. Charlton, Legg and Birch also all frustrated the home team with their tackling causing Argaum to lose the ball in contact on numerous occasions.

The Moorlanders saved the best for last with a pre-planned move from a scrum on the half way line. Quick ball from Dawson saw Lamerton find Glover on the left-hand side and a well timed pass to winger Craddock saw him use some good footwork to cut inside and round off a fine a score.

The last 10 to 15 minutes was not for the faint hearted and saw Argaum hammering at the Tavistock defensive line, which held strong until the last five minutes when fatigue got the better of them and a swift backs move saw Argaum go over for a seven point score. Fortunately for Tavistock they held on for the last few minutes and denied the Plymouth side a losing bonus point.