NORTH TAWTON RUGBY CLUB
Devon One North and
East League
Honiton 5
THE sun was shining on Taw Meadows on this afternoon but not quite bright enough to show the way to a win for North Tawton in a close encounter against the top point scorers in the league, Honiton.
With some absences due to unavailability and injury North Tawton put in a tremendous performance against a well-disciplined Honiton squad, who probably felt they should have been in for a walk in the park.
Early mistakes by North Tawton gave Honiton the advantage and with their well-drilled pack driving strongly in the mauls it took determined and aggressive defence by the home side to keep them out.
Tawton worked themselves back into contention and a break by David Fewings, from scrum-half, made good ground but they were unable to capitalise on the territory gained.
When Honiton broke back, a fumble in the Tawton defence almost led to a try and but for a try-saving tackle by Simon Quick, appearing from apparently nowhere to tackle the ball-carrier, they could have been five points down.
Although Honiton were strong in the loose play, driving the mauls with good organisation, the counter-rucking by Tawton was ferocious and stopped the attacks in their tracks. Strong tackling by centre Jack Rawling stopped several Honiton runs.
When a chip through by the visitors opened up the Tawton defence again, a try was on but full back Bill Sharp turned and raced back to beat the attackers to the touch down and prevent a score.
Just before the break a good attack by Honiton gave their centre a gap and his strong run broke the last tackle for a try. To demonstrate the spirit of the team, North Tawton players rushed the kick and charged down the conversion, leaving Honiton with just five points from a taxing first half.
The second half began with Honiton again in the attack and a penalty to touch gave them a line-out about 10 metres from the Tawton try line. Tawton's jumpers competed successfully for the ball and gave fly-half Rob North time to put in a long clearance kick.
Shortly after that it was Tawton's turn for a penalty which was tapped quickly by Fewings who made a break. He was supported well by second row Paul Turner, but he was tackled and the attack was disrupted.
Honiton responded with a break down the left touch line by their mobile prop who looked set to go all the way to the line until Bill Sharp came in with another brave and telling tackle.
From a scrum 22 metres out Honiton launched another attack and a good line taken by their centre once again had the Tawton defence struggling.
This time it was flanker Rob McBain who snaffled the runner at full stretch for another vital tackle to prevent a possible score.
Tawton had a scrum on their five metre line, from which the ball passed to right wing Tom Chisholm, who put in a neat clearance up the touch line to the half way line.
Having thrown everything into their attacks and coming up with nothing, Honiton became frustrated and started to give away penalties. This meant Tawton were gaining ground and with their line outs working well the threes got some ball to work with, and ran at the Honiton line.
Now in the ascendancy with the possibility of a late score to turn the match, North Tawton piled on the pressure, urged on by their supporters on the touch line.
A spell of impressive "pick and go" work by the forwards kept Honiton on the back foot, but time ran out and the final whistle blew with the score still at 5-0 to Honiton.
The players were treated to a roast meal by Sarah Quick as this was the last home match before Christmas.
Draw for Tawton at Ilfracombe
Ilfracombe 17
North Tawton 17
After early pressures by North Tawton following a penalty awarded against Ilfracombe the home side worked their way back into Tawton territory, helped by their dominance in the line-outs.
Their jumpers were getting across well and stealing some of Tawton's ball. Two penalty conversions were missed in the strong and icy wind off the Bristol Channel as North Tawton defended their half.
A good scrum by Tawton pushed Ilfracombe back and caught their scrum-half off-side giving Tawton the chance of a penalty kick; this went wide as well, but the Tawton pack was looking good in the set scrums.
Two charging runs by Tawton's hooker Alfie May took play to the Ilfracombe 10 metre line, but once again the defence held out and they returned to the attack.
A Tawton player was yellow carded and a good line-out take and drive by Ilfracombe took them 15 metres closer to the line. North Tawton were pulled up again for an infringement in the loose play but Ilfracombe's "tap and go" penalty move was stifled by the defence.
When they were awarded another penalty, Ilfracombe chose the kick from in front of the posts and Will Grant converted for the first and last score of the half, as the half-time whistle went with Ilfracombe 3-0 ahead.
Another penalty by Grant early in the second period, following a late tackle, took Ilfracombe 6-0 ahead. North Tawton responded well and a neat chip through by Rob North and good following by David Fewings saw him control the ball and dive over for a try.
The conversion came off the posts, but Tawton were now on the scoreboard. Ilfracombe responded almost immediately with a try of their own from a scrum just inside Tawton's 22 metre line.
The ball was fed to Grant at fly-half and he managed to evade the covering defence to touch down near the corner flag; this conversion was also missed.
Determined play by North Tawton took them back into Ilfracombe territory and good picking and driving got them a penalty. This was kicked to touch about 10 metres from the Ilfracombe line.
A good take by second row Paul Turner led to a drive by the pack almost to the line. A scrum to Tawton five metres out resolved itself into a maul on the line but they could find no way through the Ilfracombe defence.
A clearance and break out by the home side turned the tables and within minutes it was Ilfracombe with the penalty chance about 22 metres out.
Once again Grant obliged and pushed his side 14-5 ahead.
Substitutions by Tawton brought on fresh legs and the advantage was soon evident as the ball came out of another strong scrum and was passed to their centre. He slipped through a gap in the defence and fed the ball to his right wing.
Tom Chisholm completed the move with a strong run to the line for a try wide out; the conversion was pulled wide, the strong wind still having its effect.
Now in the ascendancy Tawton piled on the pressure and an excellent scrummage from five metres out resulted in a push over try, dotted down by No 8 Steve King.
The conversion by David Fewings took Tawton into a 17-14 lead and an unlikely but hard won victory looked on the cards.
In the final stages of the match another penalty to Ilfracombe gave them a last chance to save the match. At about 40 metres out the kick looked daunting but Will Grant judged the wind superbly and took the final three points to draw the match 17-17.
Having had two hard matches recently and missing a couple of key players, North Tawton will welcome the break in fixtures over the Christmas period, but will be out on Boxing Day for their usual festive day at Taw Meadows.
The next league encounter will be on January 2 with New Cross at home.
Graham King