Tribute Devon 2 League

Old Technicians 30

North Tawton 3

THE Weston Mill pitch required an inspection before play could start, but it was not long before the well-drilled Old Tecs pack had engineered a drive-over try from a five metre lineout, with some help from their friends in the backs. The touch-down was credited to Neil Herbert, but the conversion was missed.

A good take and drive by Tawton's Adam Davis brought them back into the match and they were awarded a penalty which fell short.

Old Tecs replied with an extended period of pressure on the North Tawton line and defenders did well to snuff out all attempts to ground the ball and finally it was cleared up the field.

A break from a Tawton lineout put centre Cameron Rickerby in a bit of space and he almost made it to the line. Good following up by the forwards had Old Tecs defending desperately and they were penalised giving Jamie Stevens a good shot at the posts for Tawton's first three points.

A neck tackle by an Old Tecs player resulted in a red card being shown, and a cut to the head for hooker Alfie May caused Tawton to re-jig their scrum while he was patched up.

The loss of a player did not deter Old Tecs and they ran in a try out wide for Gary Quick following a scrum on Tawton's 22. Shortly after that a mistake in defence by Tawton saw the ball go back loose over the try line and Old Tec's scrum half Ryan Tunnicliffe followed up to ground the ball.

A final try before half time came from a scrum 5 metres out for Old Tecs and their strong pack drove over the line for Phil Ingleson to touch down.

None of the conversions were successful, giving a half time score of 20-3 to the home side.

Better set scrums by North Tawton in the second period gave them a good start but Tawton's cover defence was drawn in during loose play leaving space out wide for Gary Quick to outflank them and score another unconverted try.

The frequency of injuries was testament to the difficult pitch conditions and these disrupted the match. Old Tecs had the better of it for most of the time but resolute defence by Tawton kept them from scoring again.

Tawton's Alex Arthurs had to leave the field as a result of the earlier neck injury and scrums had to go uncontested when May's cut opened up again. When Old Tecs were awarded another penalty they chose the tap and go and once more the Tawton defence was too narrow and Joel Dickens exploited the gap to go over for a final try.

At this point Tawton's Steve King had to leave the field having been carrying an ankle injury for some time, so Tawton were reduced to 13.

A break out from deep by Jamie Stevens, well supported by Will Lethbridge and Cameron Rickerby, gave Tawton a final chance to set up an attack but it was all too late and the final whistle went with Old Tecs winning to maintain their 100% record at the top of the league.

Next week North Tawton are at home to Plymouth Arguam in the league, a rare home fixture in this half of the season.