Honiton 32, Tavistock 24 Honiton seconds were good value for a hard-earned victory over a strong visiting outfit, writes Tom Churchward.

Honiton 32, Tavistock 24

Honiton seconds entertained a strong Tavistock team at Allhallows last Saturday looking to continue their good form of late, writes Tom Churchward.

Playing up the slope first half, Tavistock scored first after some good work by the pack saw them cross over for an unconverted try. Honiton have found themselves in this position several times this year, and to make matters worse Tavistock crossed again to make it 12-0 with 20 minutes gone. Honiton then woke up and after some strong attacking play, some good hands by Churchward and Bennett saw Rich Pearce cross over in the corner for an unconverted try. The Lacemen knew they were still very much in the first half but a late score by the visitors after some poor tackling by the home side saw the half time score 19-5 to Tavistock.

Honiton regrouped and playing down the slope in the second half Honiton had the belief that they could get back into the game, and early in the second half Rob Ballard crossed over to close the gap. With no recognised kicker, Honiton had trouble converting and knew that they would need to score tries to close the gap. At this stage Tavistock, who already showed disciplinary issues in the first half, were losing their discipline and this led to them having two men in the bin, one for denying an obvious try. Aggrieved by this, Honiton, who were controlled by the excellent half back pairing of Woollacott and Whitton, used quick ball to get the ball wide and allow Rhys Mcgrath to cross over in the corner. With 20 minutes remaining, Honiton were 19-15 down and were pushing on for the victory. Again, some pulsating attacking rugby saw Honiton’s pack win quick ball which went wide, and Pearce crossed over for his second of the game to put Honiton in the lead for the first time. The Lacemen then showed a mature side of their game to close out the victory, with Garman crossing over for a try, which was expertly converted by skipper Churchward. Tavistock would have the last say in the matter with a well worked forwards try.

This was a great performance by Honiton and the belief shown to come back from a 19-5 deficit was commendable. The second half performance was one of the best for many a year, and they will look to bring this again next week when the entertain Torquay at Allhallows, looking to continue their unbeaten run and gain revenge for a heavy defeat their early in the season.