Two tries from John Parkin and one from Jimmy Holman secured a vital losing bonus point for Withycombe in what was a much-improved performance from the team as they were beaten 24-17 on their visit to Tavistock for a Tribute Cornwall and Devon League contest.

Withy made a promising start, but a missed tackle resulted in some hard defending being required deep in their own 22. The Withy defence was of a sterling nature, but was finally broken on 20 minutes as the hosts took a 5-0 lead.

From the re-start, following a few phases, Withy won a penalty and opted for a scrum. The ball was moved slickly out to John Parkin who went over and a successful Le Tanton conversion saw Withy leading 7-5, 25 minutes in!

The home side hit back and regained the lead with a fortuitous score! A bouncing ball behind the posts was pounced on by players from both sides.

With there being no way for the official to determine who got the final touch, the ‘award’ went the way of the loudest appeal; sadly for Withy, that came from the home player - and Tavistock led 10-7. Both teams scored again before half-time with the Withy score being a second try for Parkin and, at the break, tavistock led 17-12.

In the second half fitness proved the key and, with Withy clearly flagging, the home side took full advantage and, after a reversed penalty decision followed by dominance in the scrum, Tavvy scored again to extend their lead to 24-12.

Withy dug deep and hit back, but they lost influential skipper Dave Richards, who saw yellow after reacting to a high tackle which had gone unnoticed by the match official!

The Withy spirit grew even more and it was no more than they deserved when, in the closing minutes, Jimmy Holman evaded several tackles prior to powering over in the corner.

Tavistock saw yellow once again for questioning decisions as the conversion attempt drifted just wide.

The resulting penalty at the restart unfortunately resulted in a knock-on bringing the game to an end with the final score at 24-17.

Next up for Withy is a home game on Saturday (November 3) when they entertain Liskeard & Looe at Raleigh Park (2.30pm).

In a spooky Halloween coincidence, the Withycombe colts, who also met Tavistock opposition, played out a game with an identical score, though in their case it was a 24-17 win for the Withy side!