North Tawton 5

Totness 22

NORTH Tawton welcomed Totnes to Taw Meadow for their Devon Junior Cup match hoping to maintain their strong start to the season.

Totnes, who currently sit third in the league above the home side, were up against a Tawton team missing seven first team players, but in an evenly contested opening period it became clear that the visitors were in for a test.

The depleted home side were forced to rejig the backline after just seven minutes, when centre and kicker Jamie Stevens was taken to hospital after damaging his leg in contact. Simon Quick reverted to centre with Rob McBain coming on to the flank.

The loss of North Tawton's kicker proved consequential almost immediately, a penalty on 38 metres drifted wide as stand-in kicker David Fewings struggled to find his range.

Both teams began to settle into the game but Totnes were guilty of killing their own momentum. Twice in quick succession they were penalised for feeding at the scrum and simple passes slipped through the fingers.

When the visitors were able to hold onto the ball they made inroads into Tawton territory. After the home side were penalised for not rolling away in the ruck, Totnes turned down the chance at points and instead kicked to the corner for a lineout. A catch-and-drive saw the ball mauled up to the five metre line, with scrum-half Aaron Bartlett peeling off to dot down for the opening score. Scott Hingston couldn't add the conversion but Totnes were ahead 5-0.

The lead was short lived. The home side reclaimed possession from the kick off and after an initial burst by Quick, Chisholm and McBain combined well to give Fewings space to send fullback Lethbridge over in the corner.

Fewings pulled the conversion wide to keep the scores even after 20 minutes.

Totnes began to pile the pressure on the Tawton defence with captain Tom Edmunds leading by example with a couple of runs. After defending multiple phases in their own 22, Tawton were able to steal the ball and set up a rolling maul. But just as the home side looked to have survived the sustained pressure, the ball was ripped free by Totnes and Hingston ran in on the blind side.

The home side were beginning to fall foul of the referee with captain Chisholm told to give his team a warning after a string of penalties with Totnes on the attack. But the warning fell on deaf ears and Tawton were reduced to 14 men on 26 minutes after Dave Gibbs was sin binned for not retreating ten metres following a quick penalty.

A quick tap penalty by Jack Phare on half way gave Quick the chance to chip over the onrushing defence and close down the covering full back to earn a scrum on the Totnes 22. But despite the good field position, the ball was taken blind and possession was lost in a promising attacking position.

Totnes began to take control of possession and field position, but the home side defended resolutely and repeatedly won penalties at the breakdown. Tawton did little to help themselves with Liam Wilkins struggling to find touch with his kicks, instead gifting possession back to the visitors.

For all their territorial advantage, Totnes only led by five going into the last quarter as they struggled to break down the resilient Tawton defence.

An attacking scrum on the home 22 saw Bartlett collect the ball from the base of the scrum, dummy and weave his way over for his second try, converted by Hingston for a 12-point lead.

The game was put to bed with ten minutes to go when Jamie Mitchell-Moore joined the line from fullback to score in the corner. The conversion drifted wide.

One last multi-phase attack presented North Tawton with field position in the Totnes 22, but the ball was fumbled forward in the offload after a strong run by Chisholm and the match was over.