Tavistock Men’s First XI finished as Piran 2 league champions with a well-earned victory over third-placed Truro fourths.

Knowing that Falmouth had won earlier in the day, Tavistock needed a win to ensure top spot. They got off to a good start with captain Josh Walker scoring within the first five minutes off a rebound from Mark Forshaw’s effort.

Whilst Tavistock were completely dominating possession, they were lacking their normal cutting edge and many goal scoring opportunities were missed. Nick Andrews doubled the score by deflecting in Jonny Elliot’s shot to give the away team some breathing space from Truro, who were gaining in confidence and looked dangerous on the counter attack.

Five minutes before the break, Tavistock really stamped their authority on the game with a third goal from Forshaw when after the move of the game, he deflected in an excellent cross from Freddy Bott and found the bottom-right corner. This goal brought the score at half-time to 3-0 in Tavi’s favour.

It was actually a revitalised Truro who came flying out of the blocks in the opening minutes of the secondhalf and were rewarded with a goal for their turnover high-pressing, when they capitalised on a mistake in defence and slipped the ball past the visiting ‘keeper.

This duly prompted Tavistock to go through the gears and play high-tempo hockey which at times proved difficult due to the nature of the pitch. Some fine saves, most notably from Berry, who was returning from injury and Forshaw kept the score to 3-1 until Nick Andrews turned in Tavi’s fourth. Not to be outdone, in-form Elliott scored Tavistock’s fifth and final goal when he turned on a six-pence and fired in from the top of the D.

This was a great way to end the season and richly deserved throughout the whole squad and to the travelling fans who headed over the border. Man of the match was split three ways, with Jimmy Berry, Jonny Elliot and Nick Andrews securing the most votes each and donkey of the day went to Ed ‘Bigfoot’ Cull.

Tavistock can now look forward to a summer of preparation for their new higher-league challenge and special mention must go to coach Charlie ‘Chopper’ Helyer who has been instrumental in getting the team to the position where they are now and have reaped the awards from his carefully structured training programme this season.