NORTH TAWTON A 7 - EXMOUTH THIRDS 34

NORTH Tawton’s second team took on Exmouth Thirds in this rearranged friendly match, using the reliable Centenary pitch again which was on the soft side of spongy and would certainly ”take a stud”.

With a mixed and matched side Tawton were under pressure from the off. They defended well but after a number of scrums and lineouts on Tawton’s 10 metres line Exmouth broke through out wide on the right for winger Ollie Justice to touch down; the conversion was sent well wide.

The match was evenly contested for much of the time due in no small measure to the excellent back row play of Tawton’s Dave Gibbs and Simon Quick putting in some telling tackles and some classic work at the breakdown.

It was Exmouth who broke the deadlock about 25 minutes in with their flanker Charlie Garratt coming off the back of a lineout to score their second try, the conversion of which was also missed.

North Tawton responded well and were unlucky to have a try disallowed due to an offside decision.

As the half neared its end Exmouth’s fly-half James Clarke broke through the middle to score a try which he also converted, making a good start to his senior rugby career having been called in from Exmouth Colts. At the break the score stood at 17-0 to the visitors.

Early in the second half Exmouth were prevented from extending their lead by a try-saving tackle on their line by Tawton wing Ollie Hodgson.

This only delayed the inevitable as soon after Exmouth’s centre Gareth Vallander found a gap to score his side’s fourth try, which was not converted.

North Tawton continued to contest the match well, notable for his tackling in this phase was Tawton’s second row Bobby Hunt.

Even this could not prevent Exmouth winning a number of turnovers which should have been secured. On the hour Exmouth’s No 8 Dean Davies notched up another try, this one converted by Clarke, to take them into a 29-0 lead.

At last, North Tawton got something for their efforts, as No 8 Simon Quick made a break through the centre of the advancing Exmouth line and fed the ball to his fly-half Ben Sharp.

He completed the move with a well-deserved try under the posts and took the conversion to give Tawton seven points.

The final try of the match went to Exmouth on about 74 minutes as Richard Haynes took the final pass from a tap penalty move on Tawton’s 10 metres line.

With the conversion missed, the final whistle went with the scores at 34-7 to Exmouth.

GK