LAUNCESTON played host to Tavistock on a pitch that had been underwater earlier in the week, parts of which resembled a mud bath where wellies would have been more suitable than rugby boots, writes Sarah Nash.

We would also like to mention the return of Faron to the Launceston side after a lay off for ten months with an ankle injury.

Both teams started the game with some key players missing (skiing in Italy), it turned out to be a game of two halves with Tavistock scoring five tries with some good team play moving the ball through the squad before Launceston settled to a team shape and began to move the ball around in the last five minutes of the first half.

In the second half Launceston came out fired up with Paddy coming close to scoring but was held up by some strong defensive play by Tavistock to stop him crossing the line, the next move with strong work by Angus and the forwards giving Jack the opportunity to score in the corner.

Tavistock came back and scored their sixth try with a breakaway but Launceston kept up the pressure and a quickly taken penalty allowed Alex to take the ball and power through to score.

The remainder of the game was played in the Tavistock half with some good resolute defending preventing Launceston from breaking through, but as the referee called final play Tavistock reacted quickest to a loose ball on the halfway line, slipping a couple of tackles to score.

Man of the match: Andrew Craddock.

Launceston: Angus Finnamore, Andrew Craddock, Cameron Giles, Harry Webster, Jake Tozer, Alex Cottam, Jack Williams, Jamie Forshaw, Karl Pearce, Glynn LeMarquand, Paddy Nash (c), Josh Barron, Faron Tilley and Ben Tharme.