NORTH TAWTON 52
ILFRACOMBE 0
ON a very cold afternoon at Taw Meadows it took a North Tawton team, coming off the back of last week’s drubbing at New Cross, 20 minutes to unlock the Ilfracombe defence.
Having done it once and with the confidence on the up the rest of the game, with respect to the away side, became something of a route.
The all important bonus point try was in the bag by half-time and while the match looked safe at 40 minutes, Ilfracombe weren’t quite ready to throw the towel in and rallied at the start of the second half making life a bit harder for the Tawts.
Coach Dan said: “I don’t want them scoring now their tails will come up and then who knows?”
Not to worry, the hooker try machine Matt Baker, goes one better than his brace in the first half and seals his hat-trick of tries. Do you still have to get the beers in? Hope so!
For periods of the game the tries seemed to come thick and fast, Bill Sharp adding one to his season tally, Tom Cockerham (aka tango) enjoyed coming off the bench to make his presence felt with a fine try of his own, Luke Dennis finished another solid game with a try and then last but not least you add the two tries by Dave Fewings who had another good day with the boot, adding six conversions to the final score.
It’s fair to say that the Tawts have struggled with consistency in the kicking from tee department in the past but Dave has taken on the kicking mantle with confidence - long may it continue.
All things equal a good all-round performance from the Tawts which they will need to carry into their next match at home against an in-form Torrington team.
With the good feeling factor of this big win, Saturday’s game is very much in the Tawts hands.
Turn up with their A game and they can make any side in the league look average.
Man of the Match was Matty Dennis who never stopped working all game.
Before Saturday’s game a presentation will be made to the Devon Air Ambulance Trust by Jill Hoggins in memory of the much-missed vice chairman Peter, at 2pm. Please come early and support.
Chris Phare