Devon Junior Plate Final

North Tawton 41

Plympton Victoria 0

NORTH Tawton brought their season to a close with a resounding victory in the Devon Junior Plate final over Plympton Victoria at Taw Meadows last Saturday.

It was a display of 15-man running rugby as good as anything they have played all season, delighting a good home crowd.

The first try came with turnover ball from a set scrum 10 metres from the Plympton Victoria line. Second row James Henshaw picked up the ball and forced his way over the line; the conversion fell short in the head wind. Shortly afterwards a tap penalty was taken by Tawton and centre Alex Dennis penetrated the defence, making it to the 10 metre line. Another good scrum drive secured the ball for Tawton and it was fed out to left wing Tom Chisholm to touch down by the left corner flag to make it 10-0.

Plympton Victoria raised their game and came back at Tawton. A chip over the top caught out their defence and Plympton then gained a penalty. The kick took them to about 20 metres from the Tawton line but good lineout jumping by Tawton's flanker and player-coach Paul Turner led to defence turning into attack and a break by centre David Fewings put Alex Dennis clear to run in the third. Dennis scored the next touch down with a looping run outside winger Tom Chisholm who timed his pass exquisitely to set up the score.

Plympton rallied and some good driving in the loose play made it to the Tawton 10 metre line but the defence held out. A set scrum on Plympton's five metre line could only have one outcome for a pack as dominant as Tawton's was proving to be and a controlled drive gave number eight Steve King a textbook touchdown for the push over try. The conversion from David Fewings was good and Tawton went into half time 27-0 ahead. It was the Tawton front row of Pete Wonnacott, Alfie May and Tom Phillips who were the cornerstone for the dominance shown by the pack.

An early try in the second half came from a high kick by fly half Simon Quick; Plympton fumbled the catch and Tawton's captain and scrum half Keith Jones snapped up the loose ball to race in and score. The conversion by Fewings was good to make it 34-0. Although Plympton never gave up the chase, they were unable to break through Tawton's defence. The victory was confirmed with a final try from Mike Young and converted by Fewings. North Tawton will be in Devon One next season with the new league arrangements in place.

The club holds its presentation evening at the clubhouse on Saturday evening (May 8). Further details from Sarah Quick on 01837 82704.