Devon Junior Cup

Ilfracombe 12

North Tawton 27

THIS was a good win for North Tawton in challenging conditions in this second round match.

Tawton fielded a side with Bill Sharp stepping in to scrum half and David Fewings moved to fly half with Will Hawkin at centre.

They all came together well to put on a show of 15-man rugby and overcome a side whom they only occasionally beat.

An early penalty kick for Ilfracombe fell short due to the cross wind. From the first set scrum Tawton showed signs of the dominance. Soon after, a penalty kick for Tawton took them well into Ilfracombe territory. A good maul led to a set scrum on the Ilfracombe five metre line, where a superb drive pushed Ilfracombe back over their line for Steve King to touch down to give North Tawton a 5-0 lead.

Ilfracombe had the next chance of points with a penalty kick to the posts which dropped short.

Tawton did well in the loose play, turning the ball over and denying the opposition possession, and good work off the side of mauls by hooker Alfie May and flanker Dan Dennis kept the home team on the back foot.

The next score came from a well-taken lineout by captain Paul Turner; the ball went out to David Fewings who passed to Dan Dennis to touch down in the right hand corner; once again the kick to the posts fell away leaving Tawton 100 ahead.

The last try of the first half was the result of good team play as Steve King broke off the back of a scrum and set up a flowing move by the three-quarters rounded off by right wing Steve Paxton going over for a try out wide on the right to make it 15-0 at the break.

Much credit for the first half dominance goes to the Tawton front row of Lewis Kiely, Alfie May and Tom Phillips, anchoring the scrum from which the good play was developing.

In the second half North Tawton maintained the pressure with probing runs down the right flank by Hawkin and Sharp.

Ilfracombe worked their way back as the deceptive slope and heavy ground conditions started to have their effect and Tawton started to tire. A break by Ilfracombe's Matt Thomas resulted in a good individual try, which was duly converted to make it 15-7. A pair of yellow cards were shown for a flare up between two opposing front row players.

As the match continued at 14-a-side Ilfracombe were caught offside several times and following a good scrum close in gave Sharp the gap to feed the ball to Fewings who broke through for a try to make it 20-7.

Ilfracombe rallied again and forced Tawton back to their line. The attackers were awarded a penalty five metres out and a quickly taken tap gave front row Billy Morley-Williams the chance to dive over for a try.

North Tawton kept their shape well as they drove Ilfracombe back into their 10 metre area with good picking and driving. They were rewarded with a penalty try — David Fewings duly converting for an excellent victory for the visitors.

Tickets for North Tawton's 125th anniversary dinner on April 30 can be obtained by calling Sarah on 01837 82704 or Helen on 01837 82869 for details.