Sunday 31 October, 2021, by John Sprague
At first glance it might seem difficult to pull many positives out of a blank score line for the Crabs. But they were playing a top 4 side in the league away from home with at least 5 players missing and fielded a full squad including 5 subs, all of whom accredited themselves well.
Tamar are a big side from 1 to 15 and while in open play their hard running foundered on Salcombe’s equally hard tackling, in the set they dominated. All 4 of their tries came from close quarters either direct from a scrum or from a maul and drive close to the Crabs’ line. Their tactic of kicking to set up field position worked well continually pushing Salcombe into defence mode. However coach Eoghan Grace has done a great job in organising the Crabs’ defence and the boys won some nerve jangling encounters close to their own line.
There were a number of contenders for the Salcombe man of the match, the whole front row for their battle with their much heavier opponents, James Lake for his tackling and carrying until he went off with a stinger and Lee Clarke who generally made a good job of fielding the ball in a swirling wind and who made several good runs. But the standout was Dafydd Bonar, one of the smallest men on the pitch, who spearheaded the Crabs’ excellent tackle count and who made a few incursions into Tamar territory.