Devon Cup

North Tawton 0

South Molton 12

AFTER at least two attempts to stage the semi final of the Devon Cup between the division one winners South Molton and the division two winners North Tawton the teams finally locked horns at a soggy Taw Meadow on Tuesday night.

South Molton arrived full of confidence but from the whistle the home team made it clear they were not overawed and played some good running rugby.

A bad ankle injury to front row anchor Dan Bennett caused the ref to call uncontested scrums for the rest of the match after 30 minutes, the Tawts having already lost Luke Dennis to knee injury.

With nearly 40 minutes gone the score stood at 0-0 and this could only give hope for a home win but a loose pass sent South Molton down the wing to score the first points of the game; with the kick missed the visitors were 5-0 up at half-time.

In the second half North Tawton showed no sign of giving in to the division one champions, in fact they seem to up the pace and just kept right in the faces of anybody in a black shirt. At this stage of the game the conditions were starting to play a part on both teams who both lost key players. North Tawton suffered a big loss when Si Quick had to leave the field with an eye injury and Matty Dennis with a knee problem. However, it did not stop anybody in a gold shirt giving less than 100%.

The visitors gave little away and kept the ball safe in hand when they had to. With just a minute on the clock for full time they manufactured a try out of nothing as champions do; with the kick the score became 12-0 and the ref sensibly brought the game to an end with South Molton rolling on into the final.

As for North Tawton, no team worked so hard for 80 minutes to score no points and both teams deserve full credit for playing in the conditions.

Tawton might have lost the game but everyone in the shirt could leave the field with their head held high.