Tavistock Moorlanders took to the field in the Ellis Cup final against a Devonport third team that had a good mixture of young talent and some old wise heads, writes Joe Hair.

They started the strongest with some strong ball carries they seem to break the Moorlanders game line. They were then rewarded with a penalty-kick which they took to put them 3-0 up.

Shortly after that they crossed the white line for the opening try of the final which was also converted for 10-0.

Moorlanders then started to play some good rugby, chucking the ball around and exposing space in the outside channels, which led to Sean Donnelly scoring his first of three tries in of the evening with a brilliant solo effort down the right wing, breaking multiple tackles and showing his pace. The try was converted by captain Lovering for 10-7.

It did not take Donnelly, who now had a taste for scoring, to bag his second with another fine solo effort, although the conversion was missed. 10-12 to the Moorlanders.

Captain Lovering then took a penalty-kick to keep the scoreboard ticking to 10-15. Devonport then struck just before the break with another try which was converted to pit them a head at the break 17-15.

It was set to be a cracker of a second half, unfortunately the Moorlanders just went to sleep for the first 30 minutes of the second half and Devonport ran in four unanswered trie, two of which were converted, making the score 41-15 with only about 10 minutes to go.

The Moorlanders, with it all to do, did not lie down and came back at them with everything they had. Vice-captain Jack Giddy, leading the charge with relentless carries from midfield, making good yards with every one then crossing for a try, converted for 41-22.

The comeback was then on. Donnelly then crossed for his hat-trick, which was converted by Jack Rock for 41-29.

Devon Under-20s scrum-half Freddie Fuller, who had been outstanding all night for the Moorlanders, broke through the tired Devonport defence to score again but missed the conversion for 41-34.

The referee agreed there was time for the restart which which hand the ball back to the Moorlanders for one last attack to see if they could win it at the death as they would of scored the most tries on the night. After a nervous couple minutes where the ball actually changed possession twice as Devonport failed to clear the ball in to touch to finish the game, they then secured a turnover which allowed them to clear the ball of the field to finish the game.

Congratulations to Devonport for winning the Ellis Cup.

The Moorlanders showed so much pride and determination with some standout performances all over the field – too many to mention them all.

The Moorlanders’ man of the match went to Sean Donnelly, who had an outstanding game and scored three tries.