Okehampton U13s 40

Totnes U13s 25

HIGH-spirited celebrations followed Okehampton’s long-awaited, trumphant victory over a bedazzled Totnes today.

Oke played with an awesome combination of great teamwork and true grit to do themselves proud. As Oke kicked-off, the first good run from Totnes was snuffed out by René almost on the line. Totnes got the ball away again before the fifth minute and scored but shortly after restarting, Oke were soon rucking their way into the Totnes half. Luca made his presence known with a sparkling tackle and as the ball crept to Oke’s line, Ethan took the initiative, with a splendid clearance to Totnes’s 10m. Totnes regained possession briefly in the next scrum, but the Okes reclaimed it and Tom snatched it from René’s timely ruck. Another smooth and prompt ruck yielded a tidy pass to Marcus who started a run from 15 metres. He ran full pelt, with two opponents closing-in, before producing a superb grubber to slip through the gap and dived on to the ball, grounding it on the line to equalise for the Okes.

Newly inspired, the Okes summoned their winning spirit and further outstanding play followed with a superb tackle by Alex. A determined Totnes player quickly rallied and got away with the ball, Ethan blazing after him, delivering a devastating tackle as the ball was offloaded and Totnes nipped-in their second try.

After receiving the ball from Cameron, Totnes made another stoical run but dogged pressure from a defiant Harry pushed them to knock-on, earning Okehampton a scrum. Great passing along the line between Ethan, Jacob, Harry, Lewis, Morgan, Alex and Luca was a joy to watch.

When Totnes next had the ball, they came under pressure from Cameron, Lewis, Isaac and Morgan.

After a short break to treat a head-injured Totnes player, Totnes stole another ball from an Oke scrum, 10 metres from the home line, but Oke maintained the pressure through Isaac and Tyler, with Morgan executing a perfect tackle, giving Marcus another good run and ruck, Rene picking up and rucking at 10m before Jacob moved in to score Oke’s second.

Quick to regain possession after restarting, Alex had a great run, driving the ball forwards, offloading to Marcus then Sam who seized his chance, forcing the ball to revisit the Totnes line for a third time. Another ruthless tackle from Alex forced turnover but then Oke knocked-on. However, they continued unperturbed and Isaac skilfully counter-rucked over Totnes at centre, starting a setting sequence for Ethan’s first gallop to the try line. A courageous Isaac took hasty receipt of the Totnes restart. Tyler swept up the ball and then as René ran the ball out of danger to centre, Ethan made another successful run for it, leaving Totnes far behind, as he racked up a fifth try for home.

The second half was no less exciting, with Okehampton absolutely on-point to the whistle.

The Totnes forwards’ weight advantage enabled them to win the ball in almost every scrum and they were first to score again. An attempt to closely follow with a second try was thwarted at the Oke’s 22 by Ethan. Swift and agile runs from Jacob and Marcus pushed the ball back to centre and more smooth passes followed from Sam, Luca and Morgan. Great runs from Ethan and René forced the ball out of the Oke half and past the Totnes 22. As Totnes fought to push the ball back, Jacob secured it at centre, found a gap and ran to put down Oke’s first try of the second half.

Totnes counter-attacked, and a Herculean lad stormed into Oke’s half, only to be met head-on by an unflinching Ethan who took him down. The next scrum was brilliantly won from an almighty Oke push; Ethan received the ball to run all the way down to the Totnes line from the Oke 10 metre line. Totnes charged up the pitch to eight metres only to be taken down by a defiant Ethan. With ten minutes left, the score was a respectable 35-20 to Okehampton.

The exciting battle continued, with the ball ping-ponging the pitch and Oke’s Isaac storming into contact at every opportunity, making some great tackles, along with Tom and Ethan. As the ball threatened the Oke line, Nathan, Sam and Ethan joined forces to fearlessly floor the Totnes man-mountain.

An impressive drive from a fiery Isaac preceded a short run before offloading to Tom and the ball passed neatly between Tom, Marcus and Ethan. Jacob deftly rucked over, marked his gap and steamed down the pitch in a blur to plant Oke’s eighth try.

A long-ranging kick from Okehampton took the ball back to the Totnes line like a magnet but was quickly repelled back to 22m. A perfectly judged hoof into touch from the Okes brought a riveting game to the final whistle, heads held high. Isaac Whitby was player of the week.

Okehampton U12s 9

Totnes U12s 6

THE first game of 2017 saw Okehampton carry on their winning ways.

A tough Totnes side kept the scores even most of the way through the first half. Highlights were a great try from Oke’s Saul at full back from a high ball; Will bulldozing over the line and Callum, with the the last say of the first half when he powered over from a penalty to be one try up before half time.

The second half saw Oke settle down and play their rugby with some great running from Toby to score in the corner.This was followed by a try from Dan.

Shea controlled the game well at fly half and earned himself a try. Saul scored the last couple of tries with Harrison and Archie supporting well.

A few Oke players had to play out of position but they adapted well, with everyone supporting each other and making such a good team.