Devon two

North Tawton 20

Ilfracombe 7

TAW Meadows was looking immaculate, albeit a bit soggy, for this match following North Tawton's sponsors lunch, hosted by chair Sarah Quick and sponsors' secretary Paul Ankcorn.

During the opening phases of the game North Tawton just edged the territorial contest and forced an early penalty from Ilfracombe. The kick was converted by Jamie Stevens to put Tawton into a 3-0 lead.

North Tawton was able to field a first-choice front row, which was fortuitous considering the strong opposition they faced.

Initially the scrums were evenly matched, with Ilfracombe being more effective in the loose, but as the match progressed the experience of the Tawton pack began to tell and they started to dominate. They came unstuck in the final lineout line before the half ended however, when Ilfracombe took the throw-in and set up a drive to the line from Tawton's 10 metre line. Harrison Perrin went over for the try and a conversion by Rob Holmes gave Ilfracombe a 7-3 lead at the break.

A frenetic few minutes in the second half saw Ilfracombe forced back to their five metre area but an infringement by Tawton eased the pressure momentarily. They did not step back however and kept Ilfracombe pinned down. A good break by centres Cameron Rickerby and Tom Davis initiated another attack and from a maul out wide on the left hooker Alfie May forced his way over the line for a try. The conversion bounced off the post and Tawton edged into an 8-7 lead.

From the restart Tawton were back on the offensive and Ilfracombe did well to keep them out as Tawton camped on their five metre line. Finally the defence creaked and Tawton's number eight Steve King broke off a maul to go over for a try to make it 13-7. The North Tawton half backs were playing well with typical terrier-like sniping by scrum half Jack Phare and some astute kicking by fly half Chris Martin keeping their team on the front foot.

North Tawton was awarded a penalty during the closing stages but the kick to goal went just wide. They had the final say however and fittingly it came from more solid forward play close to Ilfracombe's line. A loose maul broke up as flanker Dan Dennis made a dash for the line and Steve King was on hand again to ground the ball as a pile up developed.

The final conversion by man of the match Jack Phare was good giving North Tawton a satisfying 20-7- win.