SIDMOUTH 25 NORTH TAWTON 15

HOW do you hide a full-size rugby pitch in a town centre? That’s the first problem the ones from afar had to overcome, normally being used to playing on the out-of-town council pitches when playing Sidmouth.

Because of a request from Sidmouth not to play this fixture on the given date very near Christmas, North Tawton have agreed to start their 2025/26 season early, with what was and proved to be a difficult start against a Sidmouth side accepted to be a front-runner in this league.

A strong wind at their backs most of the time, Sidmouth kicked off the new season with a somewhat mixture of old and new faces in the North Tawton side, my son Jack being proof that it is not easy to get out of the Saturday rugby habit.

With both sides struggling with the wind and looking evenly matched, it was 15 minutes or so before the first points were scored, a try by Sidmouth but a missed conversion, not surprising in the conditions, 5-0 to the hosts.

After spending some time in their own half, North Tawton finally got the ball over the Sidmouth try line, only to be told by the referee that it was held up.

Back came Tawton with another effort, this time rewarded with their first try by Ollie Robinson. The kick was missed, making it 5-5.

Coming up to half time, Sidmouth got their second try, taking them to the break at 10-5.

It was not long after the start of the second half before Ollie Robinson got his second try. Again, a missed kick made it 10-10.

At about this stage in the match, tired legs became a big factor, North Tawton only travelling with two subs, both of whom had been used earlier than wanted because of injuries.

Sidmouth was able to field a full complement of subs, however, and it was these fresh legs that started to take the game away from North Tawton; two quick tries with good runs down the wings took the score to 22-10 with 10 minutes to go.

Not quite ready to roll over just yet, North Tawton came back with a third try of their own, scored by Jamie Neilsen to give us 22-15.

The question was now could the Tawts hang on for the bonus point? Alas, a penalty in the dying seconds and its 25-15 to the home team.

Not to be to down-hearted from this match at all, but I would suugest that we do need a full bench at all times, more so when travelling away to teams like Sidmouth.

The main difference in this match was a lack of fresh legs to bring on. It’s not easy, we all know, but it’s a must.

Chris Phare