Tavistock Ladies 1s 4 - Bude ladies 0. Player of the match - Eve Lindsey

After pushing themselves up to 3rd In the league Tavistock ladies were on a high a ready to fight for their next win in the league, meeting Bude ladies at home. The reds started well putting immediate pressure on the Bude defence, with the frontline of Lamb, Gaspar and MK student Lindsey linking up well. It didn't take long for Tavi to open up the score board with a strong strike into the D from Gaspar which allowed a great deflection from Payne to take the 1-0 lead. Tavistock started to take control of the game and they soon followed up with a 2nd from Lindsey with another deflection past the Bude keeper. The 2nd half began with Bude causing more of a threat in Tavistock defensive half, this gave the perfect opportunity for the ladies to step up in the back line and show how to play, with some fine defensive work from Pollock, Boulle, Kelly & Colston. Tavistock made another break, with some great work from Bassett, Armstrong and Payne in the midfield but were unfortunate in attack. Lamb pounced on Budes defensive free hit with a superb interception and fired the ball passed the keeper taking the score to 3-0. With just 10 minutes remaining in the game Tavistock kept piling on the pressure in the Bude D, following some great linking up from the Reds forward line which meant player of the match Lindsey could seal the deal with the fourth of the game. Tavistock go into the Christmas break holding their 3rd position in the league. 

Men's First Team: Torbay 1-2 Tavistock

Tavistock travelled to Torbay looking for their 10th straight league win following their promotion last season and went into the half time break 1-0 up.  Tavistock started unusually slowly and could have found themselves a couple of goals behind had it not been for Matt Grahame in goal, as well as a number top class saves from the Reds keeper the league leaders were also grateful for the heroics of the backline notably Stanbury and Berry at the heart of the defence. The only goal of the half was scored when Fenwick flicked a penalty corner high and right past the Torbay keeper.  The nerves were settled early in the second half when Tavistocks SAS (Sam Stanbury and Sam Willetts) linked to turn defence into attack with the latter showing the composure to split the Torbay defence with a pinpoint pass to find Ben Hancox unmarked at the back post to make it 2-0.  Tavistock were resolute in defence despite twice being reduced to 10 men although Torbay did pull one goal back to set up a nervey last 15 minutes. 

HA Vase: Bristol and West 0-2 Tavistock

Tavistock made the longer than usual journey for this away cup game as they played Bristol and West, the Reds match day opponents currently sit in second place in De Cymru & The Marches 1 (an equivalent league to Southern 1 in which Tavistock play). It was evident inside the first five minutes that B&W were going to be a stronger test than anything Tavistock will face in Southern 1 this season. The first half was mainly played in the Tavistock half however the defensive unit of Grahame, Carr, Berry, Stanbury and MacDougall were literally putting their bodies on the line to prevent the home side from scoring. Against the run of play Tavistock took the lead thanks to Ben Hancox, the Mount Kelly student was the quickest to react  and finished well with his reverse stick when the B&W keeper saved a Fenwick drag flick.  Tavistock doubled their lead when Josh Walker, another Mount Kelly student finished well following an incisive run and clever pass from the influential Ollie Richards.  Tavistock knew that a solid second half performance would see them to the last 16 of the competition, although the hosts enjoyed the greater possession they lacked the ideas and execution to breakthrough the hard working Tavistock side.  The game showed that the normally fast paced attacking Tavistock side can also defend and nullify an attacking threat from a quality opposition. 

Tavistock A 3   OPM B 0

Having narrowly lost out the previous week, Tavistock were determined to get themselves back onto winning ways.

After the previous encounter between these two sides, where Tavistock managed eight goals and there was an air of expectancy with this game. Then walks in the OPM first team keeper!

The game started at the usual fast pace with Tavistock on the attack. Orman returning to dangerous form and Walker hitting a purple patch, Tavistock were ripping into the OPM defence.

The ball was worked well through from defence to forwards and with Elliott adding pace in the midfield, goals were looking to come. The OPM keeper Payne, was just stopping everything. Time after time Tavistock were through, but with Payne in outstanding form, the deadlock was hard to break.

Tavistock kept to their game plan and the structure was really working and giving Tavistock overall control. The backline of Honey, Hanson, Tosdevin and the lively McDougal, were never really threatened and when there was an OPM break, it was mopped up and distributed back to the midfield to take the attack back to OPM’s. Osborne in goal, controlled any danger that arose and cleared masterfully.

Tavistock discussed the game plan at half time, but knew they had to keep the same structure in the hope of breaking down the resistance. Frustrations were beginning to tell, when shot after shot was parried by the keeper. Eventually the break through came late in the game via the resurgent Andrews, who slotted the first from a tight angle after some good work across the D.

The second and third swiftly followed via another strike from Andrews and the competitive Walker. Tavistock really had to battle for this win and it was a fine performance, which showed patience and team structure, along with some great attacking play.