Tribute Devon two

Ilfracombe 13

North Tawton 11

THEY say all good things come to an end and that was the case with North Tawton's unbroken run of match victories this season. It was a close run thing with the possibility of another win by a one point margin hanging on the last minute penalty which dropped short, grazing the post.

To some extent they were the authors of their own downfall by failing to heed the referee's warnings and talking back too often. Tawton spent half of the second half with 14 players as two players invoked the ref's ire on different occasions and were yellow-carded.

Ilfracombe opened the scoring with a penalty kick to goal when North Tawton failed to retreat sufficiently, and a second when they spoke back.

The home side had fielded a big team and Tawton's relatively youthful side had to work hard to contain them. They had their reward when a break out by scrum half Tom Wilkinson and centre Cameron Rickerby penetrated Ilfracombe territory and Tawton were awarded a lineout close in. Veteran second row Andy Pyle gathered the ball and crashed over for the try.

The conversion from wide out faded across the front of the posts leaving Ilfracombe in the lead at the break by 6-5.

The second half started well for Tawton with two penalty goals kicked by centre David Fewings taking them into an 11-6 lead.

The Tawton pack began to establish some dominance in the set plays, pushing their opponents back at the scrums. Their quick three-quarter line had the opposition under pressure and a break from deep by Wilkinson, Rickerby and full back Will Lethbridge took them into the Ilfracombe 22 metre area. They could not convert the pressure into points.

Ilfracombe were not done yet, however, and came back with a scrambled try wide out as Tawton paused expecting a call for a knock on. The conversion was well struck to leave the score at 13-11 to the home side.

Tawton responded well with a positive final flourish which included the crucial missed penalty kick. The Tawton man of the match was Dan Dennis who stepped into the hooker slot magnificently and was effective in the loose play, sniping round the side of the rucks.

The result leaves North Tawton third in the league table, one point behind Plymouth Argaum.