NORTH TAWTON RUGBY CLUB

Cold affected

handling by

both teams

Saturday, February 18

DEVON ONE LEAGUE

NORTH TAWTON 3

PLYMSTOCK ALBION OAKS 17

WITHIN minutes of the kick off North Tawton gained a penalty decision against Plymstock Albion Oaks inside the 22 metre area but the kick drifted wide.

Oaks staged a counter attack and when they were awarded a penalty in a similar position they opted for the touch kick and the lineout, confident their bigger pack could turn their advantage into a try.

North Tawton defended well and denied them a score.

North Tawton worked their way back up the pitch and another penalty against Oaks, inside the 22, gave Rob North the first points with a good strike.

The cold and slippery conditions were having their effect on the game but Tawton's lighter pack was holding its own in the set pieces.

When Tawton were penalised about 25 metres out Oaks chose the kick to the posts but the strong Northerly headwind caused it to drift wide.

They sustained the pressure and had a try disallowed for a forward pass but when they were awarded another penalty about 10 metres out, their No 8 Rhys Currell took the pass from a tap penalty and forced his way over the line.

The conversion attempt by Tom West was good and took Oaks into a 7-3 lead at the break.

A good mauling drive by Tawton early in the second half saw them make ground and then a poor lineout by Oaks gave Tawton a scrum well into opposition territory.

Unfortunately they were unable to capitalise on this and the ball was scrambled away. Handling on both sides was suffering from the cold conditions.

The next score came again from a tap penalty for Oaks, just outside Tawton's 22 metre line and once again it was the hard-charging Currell who went over for Oaks.

This time the try went unconverted, but Oaks now had a 12-3 lead.

Oaks were using the strong wind at their backs better than Tawton had in the first half and a well-struck penalty kick took them to a lineout about 10 metres from the Tawton line.

They infringed as a front-of-the-line move went wrong and Tawton were able to clear the ball.

An injury to Tawton's Rob North brought on coach/player Danny North as substitute and Ross Lawrence moved from full back to take the fly-half role.

Oaks were awarded another penalty close to Tawton's line and chose to pass the ball across the park, stretching the defence.

A score looked likely but centre Mike Young put in a crucial tackle almost on the try line to break up the move.

Oaks maintained the pressure and despite good defensive work by Tawton they finally found space down the right wing for their winger Paul Ansell to squeeze through for a try.

The conversion was missed leaving the score at 17-3 to Oaks.

Despite a spirited final few minutes by Tawton and the way their pack were taking the play to the opposition the score remained unchanged at the final whistle.

GK