OPM's 5 : Tavistock 51
Tavistock settled to the task right from the kickoff. The forwards,
with Pete Davis; Tom Dawe and Andrew Griffiths prominent, had the home
side defending for long periods of the match. Paul Edwards and Paul
Williams controlled much of the lineout play.
OPMs held out for the first 15 minutes, but good possession from the
pack provided the backs with the opportunity to spread the ball wide
and winger Ben Neale finished off the move with a try in the corner.
Soon after the restart, some sloppy play from Tavistock was punished by
a breakaway try from the home team. This stung Tavistock back into
action and two minutes later, number eight, Pete Davis forced his way
over the line after some good approach play from the pack. In the last
ten minutes of the half, Tavistock scored three further tries, the
first from hooker Will Tomkins popping up in the centre to finish off a
backs move.; the second a pushover try with Pete Davis getting the
touchdown and right on halftime, Ben Neale was on the end of another
backs move. With two conversions from scrumhalf Paul Allen, halftime
arrived with Tavistock leading 29 - 5.
The second half continued much the same, with Tavistock scoring four
further tries. A good run from Will Tomkins ended with replacement Rob
Milligan taking the scoring pass. A lineout catch and drive from the
forwards, took the ball right up to the line where it was spun quickly
along the backs for Milligan to get his second try. A fine run from
fullback Tom Charlesworth provided Ben Neale with the pass for Ben to
complete his hat-trick and with the last attack of the game,
replacement winger Charlie Harvey wriggled his way over the try line.
Allen managed one further conversion, to bring the final score to 51 -
5.
Although the forwards established the platform for victory, this
was essentially a solid all round team performance. This was
Tavistock's seventh consecutive Merit League win and takes them up to
second place in the table.
Next week, the 2nds are at home to Exmouth in another Merit League game, kickoff 2.30pm