NORTH TAWTON 8 - SIDMOUTH 14

NORTH Tawton Rugby Club saved their last league match of the season on Saturday, April 5, to record their first home defeat of the season.

A penalty in the last five minutes secured a losing bonus point that might prove vital to retaining the runners-up spot as it turned out with New Cross beaten by the new league champions Crediton 11.

It gives North Tawton a well deserved second place in the league.

It’s worth to note I feel that the only two games Crediton lost all season were home and away by North Tawton.

With other results set aside it really was not North Tawton’s day today.

I don’t know if the referee had had a bad pint in one of the locals in the past but he certainly did not see the game in any positives towards the home side.

Saying that I don’t think that the Tawts where at their best but by the final whistle they had had the will to play rugby blown out of them.

All credit to Sidmouth who played the way the ref wanted to go.

A try from Simon Quick with a missed kick gave Tawton an early lead, 5-0.

For a short while it looked like normal home service could be expected but in real money it was a struggle from there on in for the home side to get any momentum going.

Sidmouth scored next with the conversion to take a lead they never lost, 5-7.

Despite some good runs and line breaks by both forwards and backs, the vast majority of these finish by the referees whistle.

A good flowing move by Sidmouth took them down the wing and ended up with a good try, conversion added and its 5-14 and you can feel the game slipping away from the home team.

A yellow card for verbals did not help the Tawton cause at all but the game rumbled on with attack from one side repelled by an attack from the other, North Tawton now aware that the bonus point could be very valuable in the greater scheme of things.

At last the other arm goes up and the Tawts get a shot at goal, Jack Phare knocks it over for three points 8-14.

That gives us the final score from what was not the game North Tawton wished to finish their league programme but put it to bed and bring on the next game an away trip to Totnes in the cup.

Chris Phare

• As North Tawton U8s finished their season their coach wrote: “Today U8s should be very happy and I’m proud to say they played some excellent rugby all together.

“Communication was a major part of that, counting to pass between them and finding the little spaces to enable them to score those tries.

“Some great paces allowed runners into clear channels where little defenders had little chance to tag them.

“Overall a splendid morning with some great rugby.”