NORTH TAWTON 27 ILFRACOMBE 12

NORTH Tawton welcomed a very different looking Ilfracombe side from the last time they played them to the Taw Meadows ground for an important league game.

Both sides were keen to stay at the right end of the league table and with only two teams promoted at the season end, Ilfracombe were one of the Tawts biggest rivals for one of those places.

Battle commenced and straight from the whistle North Tawton put the away side under pressure and some good running play gave the faithful high hopes of an early try which they got but not from North Tawton.

A wayward pass from the Tawts saw Ilfracombe in for the first try of the game, with the kick missed, making it 0-5.

There was no panic as it was early days for Tawton, and if they could cut out the handling errors, we knew the points would come.

In patches the team was moving the ball around very well.

It wasn’t long before Matt Baker got lower than the rest of the pack and got the score level but the kick was missed, making it 5-5.

You could almost see the confidence growing in the North Tawton side and a superb pass by the winger Shaun Braime freed up Dave Fewings to go over for the Tawts to make the second try, but with the missed kick it was 10-5.

About now the home crowd was thinking a home win was on the way but some poor passing decisions by various Tawton players was keeping Ilfracombe in the game to the extent.

Another intercept by the Ilfracombe backs and with the added kick gave them a 10-12 lead.

Half-time was on its way and Tawton came straight back at what appeared to be a tiring Ilfracombe.

Again there was some good moving through the phases, keeping the ball to-hand, which resulted in Conner Mathis adding to his seasons tally of tries, Dave Fewings adding the kick for a half-time and a lead, 17-12.

The second half got under way and it wasn’t long before some poor discipline from the away side gave Dave Fewings the chance to add three penalty points.

With the score now 20-12, it meant Ifracombe had to score twice to win, the home fans relaxing a bit.

Next target for Tawton was the bonus point fourth try, which after running some really good lines saw Luke Dennis through and over and with the kick it was 27-12.

It was a well-worked out win for North Tawton, a win with the bonus that should keep them in a good position league wise.  Craig Dennis was man of the match, which was no mean feat as several players had very good games. It bodes well for the visit to DHSOB on Saturday, December 9.

Chris Phare