Tabard opened the scoring inside two minutes against a very strong Westcliff side on Saturday but a try scoring spree by Westcliff in the second half sealed Tabard’s fate as they were defeated 46-8.

The start caught everybody napping, especially Westcliff. Playing with the wind, Tabard pressurised Westcliff from the kick off and gained a lineout just inside their 22. Tabard won the line out and drove forcibly for the Westcliff line, who could do nothing to stop the charge and Cam O’Connor touched down for the try.

Tabard then played sensible rugby against a side that just ran everything, thwarting the Westcliff attacks with some sound defence and mounting their own attacks by keeping the ball tight.

Then Westcliff got their first try. A kick ahead bounced wildly and, although the Tabard fullback Elliot Hurrell managed to dive and get his hand on the ball, Westcliff collected the ball and scored the try, which was converted.

Tabard quickly responded with a penalty, kicked by stand off Jack Reilly, but before half-time Westcliff ran in two more tries to take a 24-8 lead.

The second half was very much like the first with Tabard playing a tight game and defending tenaciously but Westcliff got an early try from Mhalba after they ran a short penalty. With 20 minutes left the match was sealed as Westcliff run in three quick tries, followed by another late on to inflate the score.

This Saturday, Tabard are at home to Diss, kick-off 2.15pm.