NORTH Tawton arrived on Saturday at Bravelands, the home of Exeter Athletic, on the back of three straight losses but with the opposition sitting well below them the visitors were confident.

They got off to a good start from the kick off, showing early intent to take the game to the home team; it was a missed time pass by Exeter Athletic that was intercepted by Matt Baker who ran from well inside his own half to score the first points of the day - the kick was added by Gary Sizmur for a 0-7 lead after five minutes.

North Tawton suffered an injury blow soon after scoring with Rob North having to be helped off the field with a groin strain. While North Tawton regrouped, Exeter took full advantage and some good pressure play resulted in a try; the kick was missed to take the score to 5-7.

Both teams tried to keep the ball alive and some good play by North Tawton pressed the Athletic forwards into making mistakes and a clever kick up the park by Matt Baker and lucky bounce led to the visitors’ second try; Sizmur’s boot made it 5-14 . The home team did not lie down and they kicked a penalty before the half time whistle to take the teams into the break at 8-14.

North Tawton won a penalty early on but it went wide while an Athletic player received a yellow card to add to the the home team’s frustration which showed by the number of penalties they gave away.

It was still a tight game but the home team’s ill discipline was their undoing and a penalty from the trusty boot of Gary Sizmur stretched the North Tawton lead to 8-17. However, that lead was short lived as a penalty to Exeter reduced it to 11-17. North Tawton kept their composure and up stepped Sizmur to add another three points from a penalty to make it 11-20.

The visitors then were happy to play the clock down in the other half, be it scrums or lineouts before the referee blew his whistle for full-time.

North Tawton’s Matt Baker was the man of the match for always being willing to get his hands on the ball and showing plenty of commitment.