Tavistock have treated their supporters to some fine flowing rugby this season but in many ways this gutsy performance against a spikey and highly motivated Torquay side, in appalling weather conditions was one of this season’s best, writes Mark Lamerton.

Torquay started the stronger and playing up the hill they had the majority of possession for the opening minutes of the game.

The Moorlanders defended stoutly, however, and after the Torquay backs kept the ball tight, when a wider pass looked a better option, centre Ethan Lamerton managed to get over the ball and draw the turnover penalty. Tavi then moved through some phases of their own with Jack Lewis and Toby Teague carrying strongly.

The game ebbed and flowed for the first half and Tavi had to settle for a three-point lead at half-time after scrum half George Hillson kicked a penalty.

The start of the second half saw the Moorlanders look to up the pace of the game and put pressure on the away side.

Moving the ball left and right, Seb Cox and Jamie Legg were at their abrasive best carrying into contact.

Having made their way into the Torquay half Tavi lost possession but a big hit from debutant Winger Jack Rock put the home team back on the front foot. The resulting clearance kick was charged down by Hillson and club stalwart Andrew Schuttkacker was on hand to wrestle the ball back and bulldoze this way over for a try in the left-hand corner.

Torquay came back on the offensive but Tavi’s defence held strong with their powerful front row of Toby Teague, Hammy Kerswill and Josh O’Neill having the edge in the scrums and full back Rob Grove tidying up any loose kicks.

Tavistock lost Schuttkacker for 10 minutes for a yellow card and Torquay capitalised on their advantage scoring from close range. This ensured a nail-biting finish to the game and Torquay did miss a long range penalty attempt before kicking the ball long during the last play of the game.

This gave Lamerton the opportunity to scoop up the ball and kick it dead and give the Moorlanders a hard-fought victory.

Tavistock head coach Joel Caddy said: ‘It’s a win – it’s four points – and puts us 11 clear of them.

‘I’m happy as we won and did what we set out to do. We might not have done it the way we would have liked to have done it, but sometimes it doesn’t always go to plan.’

He added: ‘The weather probably evened it out a tad and they are second in the league so they are no slouches.

‘As a coach it was pretty tense to stand on the sideline, but we gutted it out.

‘Our game management was pretty good, but when Schuey [Andrew Schuttkacker] went off [after picking up a yellow card] we lost our way a tad and should have just kept it a bit tighter.’

He added: ‘It was hard going under foot, but the pitch held up pretty well considering.

‘But we literally had four seasons in one during game. One minute it was sunny with no wind, then we would have wind with then sun, but then it was chucking it down and windy.

‘They fluffed a few chances and so did we. 

‘A couple of times lads made strange decisions – running sideways when they would have been better looking for some of the big lads to set up a phase from that, but it’s a win.’

Torquay did have a chance to win it with a difficult, long-range late penalty from out on the left, but the kick went well wide.

‘It looked like he had over-allowed for the wind, but the wind didn’t pick up like he thought it was going to do and it just kept going,’ said Caddy. ‘It was a silly penalty, but sometimes you have to ride your luck.’