Tavistock/Launceston U15 girls 12
Exeter Saracens U15 girls 58
THE home side Tavistock played in collaboration with girls from Launceston for the first time. However, the visitors were off to a flying start with some quick handling and fast in at the ruck.
Tavistock/Launceston held themselves together though and fought back with some superb tackling from Lizzie, Kaya, Jo and Mia among others. Despite this, Exeter were able to make a breakaway try and caught the home team off guard, speeding to score in the corner. Exeter’s attacking play was more aggressive and several more breakaway tries saw the visitors up by 31-0 at half time.
The second half saw Tavistock/Launceston hit the field with heads held high and with true grit and determination. A superb driven maul by the home team saw a well earned try but a conversion was sadly denied. A much more aggressive home team saw rucks being won and tackles being made by all, including new players Brodie, Isabelle Prout and Lauren Morris.
A messy ruck near the home team try line saw Exeter panic and kick to clear due to the pressure and it did not go far as Lizzie for the home team caught the ball on the bounce and pounced forward for the line, putting it down neatly in the middle of the posts. Her well kicked conversion brought the home points to 12. Unfortunately the score did not truly reflect the game and both sides playing well with a lot of very good rugby.
Plymstock U14s 47
Okehampton U14s 31
OKEHAMPTON travelled to Plymouth to take on the physical power and strength of Plymstock and came away with their closest defeat to them yet.
The visitors started slowly, with some loose tackling allowing Plymstock to score twice in the first ten minutes. Gathering themselves, Okehampton made the most of a penalty, spinning the ball out to again Greg Haste, who ran a great line to score. This was followed five minutes later with some great handling across the backs, to find Haste, who steamed down the wing, kicking ahead and collecting well to score his second try. Plymstock replied minutes later with a score under the posts. The first half was brought to a close by a try from Barnaby Waddell, who put in a hardworking, powerful performance, all around the pitch.
The second half was more of the same, with Okehampton having good possession in the first ten minutes, camped on Plymstock’s try line, only to see the ball turned over and Plymstock run the length of the pitch to score. A superb break from Joshua McCulloch for Oke saw him advance from halfway to be tackled just short of the line, with the ensuing ruck ball quickly out to Cole Pengelly for the try.
Plymstock swiftly replied with a couple of tries, following some great ball handling to create overlaps. The end of the game saw Okehampton’s Saul Holliday cross the line, swiftly followed by a final try from Plymstock, to round off what was a well fought encounter from both teams.
The young Oke team put on a brave performance, with Charlie Glanville and James Stevens working hard in the pack, Sam Dunn stepping up to the mark in his first outing at Flanker, and George Cox putting in some great tackles on the wing. Oke conversions: Will Cunningham (3).
Tavistock U14s 13
Withycombe U14s 7
TAVISTOCK put in a gritty and determined performance against a Withycombe side in no mood for prisoners. The game was a close affair with both sides pressuring the opposition hard for every scrap of possession. Neither side dominated with Tavistock’s mishandling of a wet ball letting them down in attack and their solid defence keeping the Withycombe attacks at bay.
It led to a fairly equal game played between the 22s, until 12 minutes in when a moment of ill discipline from Withycombe gave Tavistock a penalty 15 metres out under the posts. Player of the match Harry Edwards stepped up and kicked Tavistock ahead.
Tavistock started to find their feet a little with new winger Sam Wilton putting in some strong runs to put Withycombe on the back foot. On the other wing Noah McDermott combined well with centre Sam Saunders and prop Charlie Meakin to create another chance that went begging due to the wet ball. Tom Scott put in a try saving tap tackle and epitomised the determination of the Tavistock defence
Withycombe came out hard in the second half and after a period of patient ruck work their scrum half burst through a missed tackle to dot down under the posts to lead 7-3. To their credit, Tavistock rallied and a couple of minutes later James Roisetter claimed a Withycombe lineout; the ball went through the hands wide and James was on hand again to pick up from the back of the ruck and spot a gap in the corner for 8-7 to Tavistock. Tavistock countered their opponents’ blitz defence by pick and go tactics with Matt Davey, Ben McKenzie and Harry Law leading the charge; this tactic eventually paid off in the last minute when full back Harry Edwards scooped up a loose ruck ball and shook off several tired tacklers to score in the corner.
Okehampton U12s 30
Plymstock U12s 65
THE match started off with a serious attack from the well drilled Plymstock team, which seemed to leave Oke standing. When Oke got into the game there was some good running from Jacob, which resulted in him scoring the first try for the team. There was also some excellent defensive play demonstrated from Elliott, Josh, Matt, Aedan, Oli and Alex, with Tom standing out for his excellent tackling. However, this did not stop the Plymstock team who used any opportunity to rack up the tries.
The second quarter was full of Okehampton dominance with lots of passing from Jacob, Seth and Elliott, which resulted in two tries — one each by Matt and Ethan. Oke showed good rucking and driving the ball, especially from Cameron, Isaac and Marcus. There was lots of good tackling from Marcus, Ethan, Elliott, Harry Luca and Alfie but this did not stop the Plymstock team from racking up the tries.
In the last quarter there was the best try of the match as Oke player of the match Ethan stormed through on the wing and knocked over the opposition en route to scoring a flying touch down.
Tavistock U11s v
Withycombe U11s
TAVISTOCK started strongly against the visiting Withycombe side with James finding himself at the end of a good passing move to open the scoring.
The visitors came close to equalising when Tavistock got into trouble on their own try line but James again stepped in and ran the length of the pitch to double Tavistock’s lead. Tavistock began to exert control over the match. Ben made inroads into Withycombe territory every time he got the ball and he released Edward for the first of his three tries. The whole Tavistock team played their part in some exciting running rugby — Finn scored a cracking try; James completed his hat trick and Ryan rounded off an impressive first half by going over in the corner.
A complete change of personnel at half time did not affect Tavistock’s performance level. Although Withycombe scored twice in the second half the fresh players again outplayed the opposition. Matt D scored twice and Mac stormed through the defence to add another. Strong defence from Calum, Sam and Dylan kept Withycombe at bay while Luke added two tries and with the last play of the match, Max crossed the line to complete a comprehensive win for the home side.
Okehampton U11s 50
Plymstock U11s 10
A BEAUTIFUL day welcomed Plymstock to Okehampton. The home team, captainted by Lachs, kept the pressure on throughout the match and a strong defence was evident.
The boys passed well for an early first try from Lachs. A nifty Plymstock player made a dummy pass but this was well judged by Will who tackled him. Oke forwards, Lachs, Toby and Callum kept the pressure on, recycling the ball and covering the ground. Adam ran with the ball, was tackled and passed a high ball to Shortie who scored the first of his two tries. A long run from Saul saw him pass to Shortie for him to pop it over the line for his second try. Lachs took advantage of a dropped ball and took off, but a well timed tackle stopped him in his tracks. A high kick was caught by Saul, who then scored - his quick thinking rewarded him with another try taking his total to three. Saul then passed to Adam on the line for his second try.
The second half saw Shea come on following an earlier injury and make his mark on the game, scoring a try. Shea and Ed worked together constantly looking for each other; Dan and Chris worked in the mauls, while Ben caught a long ball with great ease. Adam scored one in the second half while Jacob and Archie were in the thick of the action. There was good teamwork from all the Oke players.
Okehampton U10s 2 tries
Plymstock U10s 1 try
THE first game kicked off quickly with Jack W running the whole of the pitch and just as he was about to score, he was tackled and dropped the ball. Plymstock then went on to score the first try. Jack W redeemed himself by scoring next to equal the score. There were some great tackles by Cain and Max B and the whole team showed off their passing skills practised in training. Jack T made a terrific run down the wing only to be thwarted half way down the pitch, with some good rucking and mauling the ball was passed out to Cameron, who ran the rest of the pitch to double the score.
Okehampton U10s 3 tries
Plymstock U10s 0
OKEHAMPTON dominated with some good presentation of the ball by Billy, Max B and Freddie. There was some excellent play by Shea and good tackling by Max B, Harry and especially Billy, who made three try saving tackles. Harry scored the first with Oliver going on to score two more with no answer from Plymstock.
Okehampton U10s 0
Plymstock U10s 1 try
THE third game was a physical, low scoring game with plenty of good tackles from Cain and Cameron for Oke. Most of the play was in the middle of the park with neither side backing down. One of the few opportunities the Okes had was with Cameron who made a great run and offload to Tyler just before being tackled on the try line. Jack W for Oke made a superb tap tackle to stop a good run, however, the boys’ efforts could not stop Plymstock putting down the only try.
Okehampton U10s 2 tries
Plymstock U10s 3 tries
OKEHAMPTON put on a good show with Oliver making plenty of good runs, Plymstock did their best to halt him before he passed the ball out to Harry; the move finished with Max B placing the ball over the line. Plymstock came back strong answering twice which saw some great tackling by Cain, Jack W, Max B and Freddie. Jack T for Oke then went on the attack only to be tackled but some skillful rucking from Oliver freed the ball for Max B to score his second.
Plymstock then answered with their third near the end of a tiring game. This was an encouraging display of rugby from both sides.
Withycombe U9s 0
Tavistock U9s 5 tries
TAVISTOCK dominated from the start. Daniel opened the scoring with a bursting run through the Withycombe defence after a lovely combination of passes between Finlay and Edward. Good passing was a real feature of this game with the Tavistock team working well together to offload and avoid the tackles. Matthew, Daniel, Joe and Finlay put together a good run for Tavistock to send Nathan through for a try. There was outstanding tackling again from Nathan and some excellent tackling too from Edward, Joe, and Matthew left Daniel free to score his second. Tavistock kept looking all the time and William E was able to show off his excellent turn of speed to run in two more tries.
Withycombe U9s 6 tries
Tavistock U9s 5 tries
WITHYCOMBE had grown a little wiser to Tavistock’s tactics and it took longer for the Tavistock boys to make their mark on the game. There was some excellent passing along the line though, with all the team looking to get involved. George P, James, Dom and Alastair combined well together to get the ball moving before William A raced through to score the first of his hat-trick of tries. Some fearless tackling from James, Dominic and Alastair turned the ball back over to Tavistock when Withy looked strong.
A lovely run from Dominic put Alastair through to score, his first of two. William TY continued to be powerful in defence and supported well alongside Austin. Both William A and William TY prevented a Withy score right on their try line, holding the ball up and forcing a turnover to Tavistock. Alastair then ran in to score.
Okehampton U9s 4 tries
Plymstock U9s 15 tries
THIS was a good performance by Oke U9s against a large and well drilled Plymstock side who will take a lot to beat this year. After a slow start the Oke team began some good passing and set play off the tackle with Lucy, Roman, Robbie and Hector making good runs.
Phoebe made a mazey run to score Oke’s first, which was followed up by Conlaed barging through for the second.
Robbie backed up well to score the third and Hector made a great run around the outside to evade many tackles for the fourth. Amy, Joe, Vinnie and Noah all did well for Oke by getting stuck in. Overall Okehampton are showing improvement.