Friendly North Tawton 26 Crediton second XV 17 THIS fixture was played as a trial match for both sides, involving unlimited substitutions and consisting of three periods of play. The occasion was marked by the visit of Mike Tindall, former Gloucester and England centre, following up on his earlier visit to coach North Tawton. This was part of the QBE Coaching initiative and Mike was down to see the progress made by the team. North Tawton made a good start and within five minutes Craig Dennis broke through to score the first try, converted by Jamie Stevens. Crediton came back well and set up a driving maul to push Tawton back into their 20 metre zone. It was evident that the visitors had the edge in the scrums and exercised this advantage well. Tawton conceded a penalty virtually under their posts and Crediton chose another scrum but the defence held out and scrum half Jack Phare was able to put in a clearance kick. A quickly taken lineout by Tawton caught Crediton napping and set centre Luke Dennis away to score a good try under the posts. Stevens converted the points to take Tawton into a 14-0 lead. In the second period Mike Tindall came on to play at fly half for North Tawton. Crediton had a good phase of play as their forwards took the game to the opposition. A scrum pile-up on Tawton's line led to a scrambled try for Kev Ellis, but the conversion was missed. Soon afterwards Tawton conceded another penalty and Crediton again chose the scrum. A well-controlled drive to the line led to a try for number eight Brad Nock, breaking off the back. This conversion was also missed but Crediton were back in contention. Although the Crediton scrum was dominant it was two of North Tawton's own front row who set up the next score. Prop Tom Davis broke away down the right flank and fed the ball back inside to hooker Alfie May whose pace and strength saw him over the line for a try. The conversion was missed leaving Tawton with a 19-10 lead. Early in the third period a superbly timed pass from Mike Tindall, now playing in the centre, put full back Will Lethbridge through a gap. He sprinted from almost half way to touch down out wide for a captain's try. Stevens slotted the conversion to take the score to 26-10. Crediton responded again and once more their scrum was involved. From a lineout they drove Tawton back and from the maul Henry Gavin emerged to ground the ball under the posts. Stewart Pickard kicked the extra two points to make the final score 26-17 to North Tawton. n This week North Tawton are away to Okehampton seconds in another non-league fixture. The league campaign starts for North Tawton with a home match against Dartmouth on September 27.