NORTH Tawton Rugby Football Club started the season on September 4 with a win at its home, Taw Meadow, where rugby matches have not been played for 19 months.

The North Tawton players and supporters were keen to see the league get started again - and the win over Saltash really brightened their day.

The weather was ideal for the fans (perhaps not for the players), and crowd numbers were the highest we have seen at the club for a while and which we hope will continue throughout the season.

With the team having some new faces this year and other regular players trying out new positions, the game kicked off!

In the opening five minutes Saltash gained the lead after a couple of mistakes from the home side which led to a penalty kick to the corner.

The resulting line-out was played well through the backs for Saltash to cross over for the first points of the game.

The try was unconverted, putting the score at 0-5.

After going behind so early some teams heads usually drop but the home side’s never did.

After a fairly even 10/15 minutes with both teams physicality being tested, the home side started to get some good ball through the hands of the backs and coming close on a couple occasions.

On the third attempt Jordan Cornthwaite found himself charging down the wing with Saltash trying to cover.

A nice little grubber kick from Jordan put Will Lethridge over for the first try for the home side which was converted by Gary Sizmur.

The rest of the first half saw North Tawton gain more confidence, seeing them dominate the scrum and defence.

Two minutes from half-time saw the Tawts get their second try of the game after a tap and go by new signing Tom Mcgratten to go over and the try was converted. Half-time score 14-5.

The opening of the second half saw Saltash become more threatening with some well worked moves and decent carries from the Saltash second row and number 8.

The Tawts defence held strong.

After a couple of well worked moves from the back not paying off, the home side went over for their third try as a great pass from Gary Sizmur cut out the Saltash defence and the ball found its way to winger Tom Chisholm to score the try.

Another successful conversion, the score now 21-5.

A few minutes later another good attack from the home side saw Tom Mcgratten cross the line for his second try of the game, the conversion unsuccessful, leaving the score at 26-5.

As the game came to a close you could see there were a few tired faces but that’s to be expected after several months of no game time and the weather being extremely hot.

North Tawton sealed a great win for the first game in front of the home crowd, full credit must go to Saltash who played a hard game and really tested the Tawts defence, playing some decent rugby.

We wish them all the best for the season ahead.

There is no man of the match for this game as several players performances could easily take it.

All in all it was great to see North Tawton playing in front of the home crowd and with the next fixture away at Tavistock we hope the crowd goes down and supports the team for what should be a great local derby!

Jabby Fewings