Last-gasp victory for Tavistock in Bideford

The big regret from a fascinating Devon derby was the controversy surrounding the decisive final play of the game but Tavvy will only remember their tremendous second-half recovery in North Devon.

Up until that moment, Bideford and Tavistock had served up a cracking game of rugby in tricky conditions. The Chiefs made a bright start and grabbed the lead when Harry Bloodworth dived over in the corner, with Matt Lewis kicking the extras.

Pete Bowes extended the home lead, Lewis again kicking the conversion, but Tavvy struck back with a string of positive phases moving through the home defence, creating space in the wide areas.

The forwards took over, driving Bideford closer to their try line and the pressure led to an overlap for full-back Al Spicer to dive over and make the half-time score a more manageable 14 – 5 in favour of the Chiefs.

Momentum soon swung back toward the hosts, however, as Dean Folland touched down to extend the lead to 21 – 5. To their immense credit, Tavistock never panicked and turned to the replacements for some renewed energy.

Bideford began to tire in key areas, as evidenced by Ethan Lamerton and the wing duo Liam Watts and Sean Donnelly all making line breaks. Tavvy were in the ascendancy and a slick passing move created room for George Hillson to scored under the posts.

After some strong defensive work to repel Bideford, Jack Giddy won a crucial turnover for Tavvy and the Moorlanders ploughed their way up the field, eventually winning a penalty, which was calmly slotted between the posts by Hillson.

Tavvy were six points behind as the clock ticked into the red. Andy Yates took the ball to the Bideford line and forced a pass to Hillson, who ignored vociferous home claims of a knock-on to bundle over the line. Hillson then displayed tremendous composure to kick the conversion for a dramatic 22 – 21 win for a jubilant Tavistock.

The victory was a second on the road for Tavvy this season and moved them into third in the league table, behind the leaders Plymstock and Kingsbridge.