Withies Down Savvy Tavvy

Withycombe welcomed Tavistock to Raleigh Park on Saturday afternoon, and with Tavvy just one place below the Green and Blacks in the league it was sure to be an interesting affair. Last weeks loss to Honiton meant that the Withies were again playing with a point to prove, and it would turn out that Tavistock would be on the unfortunate end of said "point".

Withycombe Match Secretary Neil Price said before the game that in order for Withycombe to get the win, he thought they'd have to "win the battle in the trenches" and that Withycombe would have to "play the conditions well".

With all that said, it was the worst possible start for the Green and Blacks as after just five minutes, and presumably his best Vinnie Jones impression, Dave Richards was sin binned for a tip tackle. This only invigorated the home side as they went right on the offensive. Tom Pugsley and Sam Conway were making mincemeat of the Tavvy defence, although three tries went begging.

With Richards back on, it was fifteen minutes in with the returning Glenn Channing at fly half pulling the proverbial strings sent Danny Sansom slinking through to dot down and get the first points of the game. Conway converted making it 7-0.

Tavistock, after running off the travel cobwebs, countered with a try and a penalty in quick succession. Mark Friend went over and Ben Hadfield added the extras and the penalty to go ahead by three. Withycombe went back up the slope, and with a well worked lineout move the ball went out wide to the effervescent Sansom, who again sliced a sumptuous line and got his and Withies second try.

Two minutes before the half, Conway broke up the far right of the field and the ball went to second row Rob Griffin. Griffin then decided he fancied a rampage as he went into Beast Mode and rumbled his way upfield by himself. He was seemingly stoppped five metres from the line, only to reemerge from the crowd of defenders and flop over the line for another unconverted try, leaving it 17-10 at the turnaround.

If the first half was in a delicate balance, then the scales were thrown out the window in the second half. Withycombe, playing with the wind, started to flex their muscles as Tavistock struggled with the wind in their faces. After fifty minutes the Green and Blacks would go to their bread and butter. From the lineout they pounded the Tavistock line, eventually caving in as Toby Papp went over, with Conway adding the touchline conversion.

Now playing with some swag, Withycombe stole a Tavistock lineout in their 22, and after two "pick and goes" utility front rower Liam Cullen darted over for another touchline converted try by Conway to make it 31-10. All was going too well it seemed as on the sixty minute mark, Withycombes Ryan Hamilton was sent to the sin bin. However, that wouldn't stop the Withy Tide washing away the opposition as Number 8 Alex Taylor went over for the first of his brace, Conway adding the kick on both.

Taylors second try was a culmination of great work from forwards and backs. Toby Papp smashed through and put the burners on, and with ball going wide and a three man overlap, Taylor went himself as he palmed off one player and bumped the next as he flopped over for his second to make the score 43-10.

Brad "Spud" Young got off the bench to get his first cap for the 1st team as he replaced Richards at hooker after impressing in his first couple of months at the club. And the next try would incorporate two other new boys as Beast Mode and Man of the Match Rob Griffin decided he fancied another barnstorming run as he got the ball on his own ten metre line and bullied his way past copious defenders, swatting his way down field and eventually being downed just metres from the line. After all that work, second row partner Ryan Hamilton, fresh from "the Bin" picked up and went over for the final try of the game in Brook End.