West Counties West Tavistock 25 Torquay RFC 20 TAVISTOCK kicked off their first home game of the season at Sandy Park seeking major improvements after their heavy opening day defeat away at Teignmouth. The home side started the brighter of the two with long spells of possession in the Torquay 22. Strong running from wingers Ben Hadfield and Glen Fuller put pressure on the opposition's try line. Despite this, Tavistock struggled to convert their pressure into points allowing Torquay to clear their lines. When Torquay attacked they used their bulky pack to advance up the field with a number of driving mauls. In the next 20 minutes Torquay took control by scoring 20 unanswered points. Their forwards dominated the set piece and drove over the line twice and while Tavistock were down to 14 men due to a yellow card for an infringement at the scrum, their outside centre found gaps in the defence to feed the visitors' full back who strolled in under the posts. The addition of a conversion and a penalty from their scrum half gave Tavistock a mountain to climb going into half time. Tavistock made changes in the forwards and brought on Mark Friend on the flank. This sparked the home side into action with half backs West and Murphy marshalling the Moorlanders towards the Torquay try line. Tavistock's forwards gained confidence. Tavistock maintained the pressure and from a scrum were awarded a penalty; a quick tap from West saw him blast his way through the Torquay defence to score; he converted to make it 7-20 at half-time. After the restart Tavistock continued to cause problems for the visitors. Powerful running from centres Lloyd and Brading put them on the front foot. West made the most of the possession to score his second try of the game when an overlap allowed him to cruise though the Torquay defence and score in the corner; the unconverted try set the score at 12-20. Tavistock's confidence grew and the constant pressure found the home side back in the Torquay 22; patient phases of play presented an opportunity for Brading to crash through the defence and touch down for Tavistock, which was converted by West 19-20. Continued Tavistock pressure frustrated Torquay as they gave away penalties for infringing at the breakdown leading to a visiting man sent to the sin bin by the referee. With the extra man for Tavistock they forced Torquay to give away two penalties and the trusty boot of West slotted both opportunities to put Tavistock in the lead at 25-20. The final play was Tavistock's as they took their own line out enabling West to clear the ball off the field to the delight of the home fans. It was a positive turn around for Tavistock after a shaky start to the season.