Sidmouth U16s 19

Okehampton U16s 22

OKEHAMPTON won a line out deep in the Sidmouth half, which they set and drove perfectly for about 20 metres over the try line and Johnnie Harris peeled off the back to score a try.

It was the perfect start for Oke but Sidmouth's backs looked dangerous every time they got the ball and were only prevented from scoring by some last ditch tackling. Okehampton held on for the next 15 minutes but then Sidmouth did exactly the same as the visitors did from a lineout and after a perfect set and drive scored their first try.

Sidmouth went on to score two more tries in the next five minutes, but to Okehampton's credit they hit back just before half time after some great pick and goes for Joe Mawle to crash over to score a try to finish the first half trailing 19-10.

Okehampton looked like a different team in the second half and made great breaks to stretch the Sidmouth defence. This soon paid off as the scrum half Niall Leahy made a perfect break from 25 metres out to run in to score an excellent individual try. Five minutes later Joe Mawle crashed over to score his second try.

With 15 minutes to play Oke pushed to finish the game off but the rest of the game remained scoreless and their first win of the year against opponents they had never previously beaten.

Newton Abbot U16s 25

Tavistock 16s 14

TAVISTOCK battled bravely in a hugely physical contest against a clinical and well drilled Newton Abbot side.

Newton went three points ahead in the first ten minutes after electing to kick a penalty. Tavistock came back with Harry Jeans, Richard Cann and Ben Luke all contesting strongly at the breakdown. However, Tavistock could not turn pressure into points, while Newton capitalised on any chance they had and they moved the ball wide to score two tries in quick succession.

Tavistock could have buckled but they kept to their task with Chris Watts tackling Newton's playmaking fly half excellently on several occasions. Space was made for Ethan Lamerton to break down the left wing and he passed a clever inside ball to the supporting flanker Theo Cousins, who drew the fullback nicely before firing an excellent outside pass to winger Dan Willis, who ran a good line and finished off a really neat looking score. George Hillson kicked the difficult conversion to make the half time score 13-7 to Newton Abbot.

Having got themselves back into the game Tavistock conceded an seven points after some poor defensive work.

Again despite having a strong set piece with both line out and scrum working well Tavistock could not capitalise on their advantage. Richard Cann, Cameron McKie and Ben Luke carried Tavistock over the gain line and Billy Rowe, Scott Morris and Theo Cousins won several turnovers. However, they could not prevent Newton from scoring a fourth bonus point try.

Tavistock did gain yardage out of their kicking game with George Hillson, Chris Watts, Ben Milligan and Dan Willis.

Winger Sean Donelly ran strongly and was unlucky not to break clear on several occasions and on the other wing Will Trembath put in a tremendous tackle.

Tavistock's determination was impressive and a concerted period of pressure in the left hand corner eventually saw the ball pass through the hands of Chris Watt, Ben Milligan and Ethan Lamerton for space to be made for Billy McNicol to force his way over. George Hillson again added the conversion helping to secure a losing bonus point at the end of the game.

Okehampton U14s 48

Teignmouth U14s 7

TEIGNMOUTH, despite what the scoreline might suggest, certainly gave Okehampton a tough contest.  

The opening ten minutes saw Oke on the back foot as Teignmouth pressed with some good attacking play that got them to the home side's line.  Oke defended well but Teignmouth fought hard to garner the first points of the game, a converted try.  Okehampton came back at the visitors with a bit more passion and belief and started to pull their game together.  Good passing and straight running got the ball to George Dickinson, who slipped a number of tackles to score between the posts.  This lifted Oke and following some superb work in the scrum Tom Stevens was able to power his way through Teignmouth's defence for his first try and  give Oke the lead. He scored again minutes later. 

Teignmouth continued to attack, but Oke's defence was solid and another fine scrum allowed Nathan Tomkins to take advantage of the overlap and spin the ball to Daichi Budiman to score between the posts. 

The second half started with Oke getting to Teignmouth's line quickly, where Ollie Browne almost scored.  From a lineout a few minutes later the ball was moved smoothly along the back line to George D to give him his second try. 

Another try came following a deep drive from Tom Whitmarsh that allowed Nathan to kick to space where Noah Cracknell collected well and flicked a pass to Daichi who ran in for his second score.  Jim Finley converted well, and his kicking throughout the game was excellent. 

The next score came following a superb turnover in the scrum that got the ball to Noah, who sprinted through to score between the posts. 

Teignmouth continued to search for a way through and almost succeeded had it not been for more towering defence, especially from Tom Arthurs and the rest of the pack.  Oke's final score came from Nathan with a typically strong run to see him score, then convert his own try. 

This was a good showing from the Oke boys after a slow start, and all credit to Teignmouth for making a real game of it.

Tiverton U13s 0

Tavistock U13s 52

IN this first round of the U13s plate Tavistock soon moved the ball up the pitch and Harry Richardson pounced to see a gap and score.

Tavistock played a simple game of possession and spoiled the opposition's. Five minutes later, Noah McDermott scored his first try for Tavistock after the ball was moved through the backs putting Noah into striking range. Try number three came after scrum half Tom Persse scooped up from a stolen scrum, fed inside centre Edward Tait to run under the posts. Luke Edwards added the fourth out wide again after concerted ruck pressure sucked in the defence allowing some slick hands through the backs. Ollie Samson caught the restart, charged off down the pitch, offloaded to Henry Varndell-Dawes who danced through several tackles to score. Harry Richardson finished the half with a scrum pick up and a drive over the line.

Despite the score-line, the Tiverton team tackled hard and gave no quarter in the breakdowns, making Tavistock work hard for possession.

This was countered by some sterling work by second rowers James White and Sam Essex, with Harry Edwards, Tom Scott and Matt Davey.

Harry Richardson completed his hat trick after Jaxom Cann's barrelling runs through the Tiverton defence. The fifty point margin was hit when Owen Staples benefited from a great break by Charlie Meakin allowing the backs to feed the winger.

This was a superb team effort showing discipline and strength.

Okehampton U13s 17

Teignmouth U13s 0

FROM the outset Okehampton took the game to their visitors, keeping them pinned back in their own half, with superb attack from the forwards.

This created a break for Daniel Tomkins to power his way over the line after ten minutes.  Sustained pressure from the whole Oke side led to quick ruck ball, fed out by Joshua Burgoyne to a determined Barnaby Waddell, for a second try five minutes later. 

Teignmouth came back strongly in the last ten minutes of the first half, but were met with staunch defensive tackling.  Charlie Glanville had another good game in the front row, with James Stevens and Saul Holliday working relentlessly around the field, spoiling and stealing Teignmouth ball — well supported by Cole Pengelly, Seb Haste and Sonny Luxton. 

The second half continued in the same, entertaining vein, with both teams playing good, end to end, rugby. 

A kick into Okehampton's 22 after 15 minutes saw James Close, who had his best game of the season, chase back well, executing a vital clearance kick. 

Teignmouth were pressurised into handling errors, and 20 minutes in, Barnaby Waddell, stripped the ball from a Teignmouth attack and stormed through from halfway, to bag his second try. 

Teignmouth fought to the end, but met with determined defence from Okehampton, denying them any points in the game, with two cracking, try saving tackles from Michael Stevens in the last five minutes. 

The whole Oke squad deserve a mention, as every single player stepped up to the mark, in what was a superb display of teamwork, and a deserved win. 

TAVISTOCK U13s girls travelled to Plymstock on Sunday and teamed up with Bideford to take part in the Plymstock Oaks Festival.

Ten teams from all over Devon were competing for the title.

With only a small squad the Tavistock girls were happy to be gaining experience and taking part. However, their first game in the round robin against Kingsbridge did not start well with Kingsbridge scoring in the first minute. This setback was soon annulled with Kahya Bos breaking through to cross the line.

Tavistock improved their marking and co-ordination and they went on to win by six tries to three.

Matches against Minehead and Cullompton were won with some ease with tries from Mia Cole, Katie and Charlotte Abel, but the match against Exeter proved to be much more difficult.

Tavistock restricted Exeter to one try in the first few minutes. They then struck back with a try from one of the Bideford players to make it even at half time. With sheer strength Kahya Bos powered through to ground the only try of the second half to take Tavistock through to the final.

In the final they were up against the home team, who had one exceptional player who broke through on four occasions whereas Tavistock could only manage two tries. Even so, reaching the final was a supreme achievement for a side so rapidly assembled.

Okehampton U11s 3 tries

Teignmouth U11s 11 tries

TEIGNMOUTH travelled to Okehampton to play rugby on a dry but chilly morning.

The first try for Oke was scored by Ethan after a great run through by Isaac.  In the second quarter Ethan picked up a loose ball and ran almost half the pitch to score his second try.  Despite the loss there was evidence of great team work and good tackles by the Oke boys and Holly.  Jacob scored Oke's last try with a great run down the line.

Tavistock U10s 30

Stonehouse U10s 25

AFTER a run of bad form, Tavistock were hungry for a win and despite an early try from Stonehouse, the former found their feet and pushed hard against a strong opposing team.

Newcomer Barney R made an impression with some great driving runs through the middle but it was Matthew  that got Tavistock off the mark with with his first of two tries.

Tavistock kept up the pressure with persistent tackling especially from Luke and Eddie. Another great run from Barney, who offloaded to Luke, then Max brought another try for Tavistock. Chris, Ryan and James D gave superb support as the visitors continued to apply the pressure.

Another  try from the home team levelled the score but an incredible run from Eddie down the length of the pitch landed another try from Tavistock and they entered the second half a try ahead.

The home team were not behind for long and they kicked off the second half with another early try. Tavistock battled hard and Callum, James L and Sam  tackled strongly.

After a great jinking run Sam was home free and scored his first try for Tavistock followed by another from Matthew.

The score stayed level until the dying minutes when James L drove the ball toward the try line with some superb defensive bodywork, passing it on to Luke who wriggled out of the defence's clutches for a last minute try

Tavistock U10s 15

Stonehouse U10s 15

MAX for Tavistock scored a hat trick of tries for Tavistock but Stonehouse were more than up for the match and levelled the score by the end of the first half. A tryless second half proved that these were two well matched teams.

Teignmouth U10s 10

Okehampton U10s 40

WILL opened the scoring for Okehampton with his first try along the touchline. Shea leapt after the ball from the scrum, passed to Lachs who in turn passed to Dan for his first try.

Toby, in the centre of the Oke forwards, was tackling well until an injury forced him to retire from the game. Will again made a long run along the touchline but was tackled into touch just short of the tryline.

Adam took three tries and also made a try saving tackle preventing a home team score in this half. Lachs and Callum's teamwork rewarded Callum with a try while Will's second try came at the end of the first half.

A change around saw Dan, Ryan and Chris in the scrums and Flynn as scrum half. Ryan put in a few tackles, but some basic handling errors were evident in this half. Shea caught a Teignmouth player by surprise with his tackle into touch. Ed took a couple of attempts to get away, but was soon striding down the touchline to score his one try for Okehampton in this half. Teignmouth replied with two tries.

Teignmouth U10s 10

Okehampton U10s 30

SUPERB driving from the Okehampton lads kept Teignmouth back before Ed pushed through for a try. Shea put in a good run and then offloaded to Lachs for his first try.

Shea, Josh and Adam scored adding one apiece. Josh tackled a weaving player plus several others too. There were some moments of great passing throughout by the Oke boys.

The second half saw a commendable workrate from Josh and Shea for their tackles while Ed was working hard to cover the ground.

Shea took off with the tryline in his sights but with no support once he was tackled close to the tryline. Alex made a sterling run along the touchline, but was tackled out of play. Again, Shea nearly made the tryline only to have a foot out into touch by a late tackle from a Teignmouth player. Shea passed to Dan for the final try of the match.

Teighnmouth U9s 6 tries

Oke U9s 15 tries

OKEHAMPTON reds started this week with some good line speed which put the home side under pressure; from a loose ball Grady picked and ran in his first of seven tries.

There were good tackles from the two Jacks. After giving away some penalties the home side came back to draw the first quarter 2-2 all.

The blues started the second quarter well with Oliver doing well with some great runs and off loading, supported well by Cameron who was putting in some great tackles. Billy had a couple of good runs down the line and scored with one of them.

In the third quarter the reds stepped up a gear with the ball being moved around well and some good line breaks being made with good support in the tackle. Cain made some good yards with one maze run to score.

The last quarter was a tight affair with both sides' defences on top; Max B made some good runs forward and off loaded well to Matthew who forced his way over for a good try.

Over all this was a good hard fought game which made the boys work hard for each other and off loading well to score some great tries.

Oke tries: Grady (7), Cain (2), Callum K, Daniel, Billy, Max B, Oliver, Matthew.