Devon one

North Tawton 8

Tamar Saracens 5

THIS opening league fixture saw two sides partaking in Devon one after both being promoted last season.

The first half started in electric fashion with both sides making strong carries in midfield; however, it was Tamar who dominated possession and territory for the majority of the half.

The home defence withstood much pressure with Steptoe notable around the fringes. Perhaps the decisive factor was either sides’ ability to play with 14 men. Tamar were first to have a man in the bin but reacted well unlike Tawton who saw Sharp junior go to the bin for unsportsmanlike behaviour. It was during this pressure that saw Tamar’s busy number eight cross the whitewash to make it 5-0 to the visitors at half-time.

The second half started brightly despite Tamar’s favoured possession. North Tawton enjoyed a dominant set piece with Baker involved and the Sharp/Cockerham partnership stealing plenty of line out ball.

North Tawton’s new skipper Alex Dennis did reduce the deficit with a well struck penalty on 50 minutes. Saracens then saw another yellow for their 10 due to a block in midfield; this time North Tawton made the most of an extra man.

As the set piece continued to dominate and a well worked driving maul was converted into points as impact sub Chisholm crossed for a fine forward’s score. With 10 minutes still left Tamar threw everything at the hosts and set up camp on their try line.

The Tawton defence held strong despite two further sin binnings to Chisholm and Cockerham for professional fouls. With little time left Tamar opted to scrum and not take the draw as a result of a number of penalties. Eight minutes into added time and it was a fitting finish for the Tawton skipper Dennis held up a Tamar attack for the third time in the match to the cheers of relief from the home supporters and the final whistle.