Withycombe Grind Out the W

After last weeks abandoned game against promotion chasing Paignton, Withycombe hosted Tavistock at a sun soaked Raleigh Park on Saturday afternoon. Withycombe, with a few regulars missing, knew there was some retribution on the cards after Tavvy turned the Green and Blacks over in the previous meeting this season, and the home side came out all guns blazing. Although numerically still possible that Tavistock can go down this season, it is very unlikely. However, any form of points would have been good, and for a while in the second half Tavistock were right in it.

After the kick off to start, it took just 5 minutes for Withycombe to notch up their first points of the game. Off of a lineout hooker Liam Cullen carried hard into the heart of the Tavvy defence. Fly half Glenn Channing then found George Toomey hitting a line at 100mph, the young centre crashing through a tackle and dotting down under the posts for a Channing converted try.

Ten minutes later and Withycombe were enjoying the advantage up front in both the rucks and set pieces. Off of another lineout Withycombe attacked across the pitch, and then back the other way as the ball was delightfully spun wide by scrum half Jack Sullivan, the ball ending up in Kev "K Train" Rodwells' hands as he darted over to score the home sides second, the touchline conversion converted by Channing to make it 14-0.

If Tavistock thought they could ride out the early onslaught, then they were very mistaken. More pressure going up the slope lead to more points for the Green and Blacks. A break away from the half line from Caleb Sampson saw him downed five metres from the try line, and after a infringement from Tavistock at the ruck George Toomey used his "top two inches" with a quick tap penalty, catching the visitors off guard and diving over for another converted score by Channing to go up 21-0 with 20 minutes played.

Tavistock came back with a vengeance though, and on the 27th minute hit back with a try of their own in their first visit into the Withycombe 22 when Tom Friend crashed over from a driving maul. The extras were missed, but the visitors could smell blood and Tom Friend went over again right before the half as his converted score left the game 21-12 going into the second half.

With the slope to their advantage, Withycombe started the second half how they started the first. Ten minutes of solid pressure in the Tavvy 22 led to a push over try from Number 8 Alex Taylor after some strong carries all game. Jake O'Neill converted the extras to make it a 28-12 game.

Tavistock hit straight back in what was becoming a ding dong affair. With mounting pressure in Withycombes half, Tavistocks own Number 8 Andy Schuttkacker went over for a converted try, and with only nine points between the sides Tavistock were still chasing with 15 minutes left to play.

The final quarter of an hour was played mostly in the middle of the park, with neither side really getting on top of the other. Any score from either side would sway the result one way or the other, and up stepped moonlighting prop Caleb Sampson, who is now plying his trade in the centre. Off of another Withy scrum the clean was shipped to the aforementioned Sampson, who bullied his way through the defence to seal the victory for the Green and Blacks, the end result 33-19 to the good.