Tavistock U15s 40

Barnstaple U15s 0

TAVISTOCK under 15s were at home against Barnstaple in the latest round of the Devon Cup.

Both teams were strong and both created opportunities but Tavistock were excellent in both defence and attack. When they created scoring chances, their new player, Josh Davies, was able to steam over the try line. 

Davies scored all six tries with Zac Gorton converting five of them. Josh would be the first to say that the whole team provided well worked moves and clean passing for him to score. The match proved to be Tavistock’s best performance so far this season.

The first try came early in the match when Josh broke through the Barnstaple line, which helped to settle Tavistock’s nerves. Jason Blake came up trumps for Tavistock to secure the ball at the scrum on the Barnstaple put in. This went out via scrum half Tom Pearson, and quickly down the line through Luke Lewandowski, Zac Gorton, Freddie Williams and onto Josh to score under the posts.

Ten minutes later came almost an identical try with Freddie just short of the try line before getting his pass away to Josh. One more converted try made it 26-0 at half time and although Barnstaple looked dangerous on the attack and consistently won turnovers, they were let down by their final pass.

Barnstaple tried a more kicking game in the second half but James Paxman made some great clean catches playing as Tavistock full back. The Tavistock pack were marshalled excellently by captain Jon Lord and they drove forward via Archie Allen and Toby Teague. There was some tremendous tackling from Robin Bickley and Olly Noy Scott as ever and some immense tackles from Laurence Stewart against the large Barnstaple pack.

Their defensive efforts lifted the whole team. Two more tries secured a memorable game for Josh and a fantastic performance from the whole team. Tavistock U15s now play old rivals Okehampton in the next round, where both teams know each other well, having played each other over the last eight years since the age of seven.

Tavistock U11s 55

Stonehouse Sharks 5

TAVISTOCK started the match well and their aggression at the breakdown meant they had the upper hand in the opening exchanges.

Eddie opened the scoring with a long run and Ryan quickly added another. Excellent defence from Sam and Ben kept Stonehouse at bay and gave lots of turnover balls. Tavy made the most of their opportunities with Matthew completing a hat-trick before half time and James adding another.  

The second half continued in the same vein with the Tavistock team really working hard to disrupt Stonehouse’s attacks.  Barney R scored quickly and although Stonehouse made more of a fight of it they were only able to score a single try.

In response James scored his second and Callum ran the full length of the pitch for a memorable individual score. Max finished off a good performance with the final try of the game.

It was great to see the effort both sides put in right up to the final whistle, and the game was much more competitive than the 55-5 final score suggests.

Tavistock U9s 7

Stonehouse Sharks 7

TAVISTOCK were caught out by an early Stonehouse try but quickly regrouped and William A charged through for a great running try.

There was some really strong tackling from Finlay and Edward which turned the ball over to Tavistock and allowed Edward in for the first of two tries.

Daniel was excellent in defence, tackling seven players in a row singlehandedly to turn over the ball to the home side. He was rewarded with a great running try after winning the ball back right on the opposition tryline and racing through.

Lewis put in some fine runs and some excellent passes and Ernie scored his first full contact try, running the full length of the pitch to touch down.

Fearless tackling from Finlay rewarded him with a try thanks to some good support from William S. William E used his pace to weave through the defence and was able to score a lovely try after picking up a dropped Sharks ball.

Tavistock U9s 13

Stonehouse Sharks 2

GREAT passing, tackling and overall teamwork led to an impressive victory for Tavistock in the second game.

Some good tacking from George Mc, George P and Gabriel put Nathan in for four tries. He used his pace to weave through the Sharks’ defence time and time again. 

Powerful running from William TY saw him burst through for a try and Charlie was unstoppable as she touched down four times, putting in some great tackles too.

Tom was welcomed back after injury by scoring a great running try, ably supported by Austin, George Mc and William TY. Gabriel too showed that a broken finger wasn’t going to put him off with his fearless tackling and a try on the scoresheet.

Lovely passing through the hands of pretty much the entire team saw Nathan run through to score just before the whistle.

Tavistock U9s 11

Stonehouse Sharks 2

THERE was some fearless tackling in this game, particularly from Michael, Jack and James.

William A touched down the first try for Tavi, bursting through in his now trademark style. Jack showed off his super speed when he could not be caught once he had the ball in his hands and scored five.

The Tavi team put together some good passes too with Lewis popping the ball back nicely to James and William J in a great team effort. William J was unstoppable and scored four times.

Lovely teamwork between Matthew, Jack and William A helped Tavistock turnover the ball more than once after Sharks had possession. James was terrier- like in his persistence and was rewarded with a try, helped along by a pass from Lex.

The result meant that Tavistock beat Stonehouse comfortably overall, with an aggregate score of 31 tries to Stonehouse’s eleven.

Brixham U16s 7

Okehampton U16s 29

OKEHAMPTON started the second phase of their league campaign with a clear-cut victory in South Devon.

After a short break Oke returned to action in efficient style and gained a bonus point victory over a competitive Brixham outfit. The visitors started brightly on a sticky surface and were soon on the offensive. A well struck early penalty from out wide via the boot of Ben Mckenna-Smith gave Oke a deserved 3-0 lead.

Despite losing a player to the sin bin Oke continued to dominate, and it was no surprise when they scored a try with some superb team play after 17 minutes. Centre Harry Cole made the initial break through the middle. The ball was moved left where stand-in full back Kieran Coyle fed back inside to number eight Greg Daniel, who crossed after a trademark powerful sortie.

Oke managed one more score before the interval arrived. It was Harry Cole who once again showed great power and pace when given space up the left flank. He ran around behind the posts to give Ben Mckenna-Smith a routine conversion to make the score 15-0 at the half time break.

Oke spent long periods of the second half camped on the Brixham try line and were held up over the line on no less than four occasions. It was only a matter of time before they broke through however, and it was Harry Cole who struck again.

The centre took a direct line up the middle to take a couple of defenders with him as he crossed for his second try of the match. Ben once more hit the conversion.

The last try which secured a bonus point came in the final ten minutes. It was back rower Greg Daniel’s turn to plunder a brace, as he stormed up the short side for a fine score from a set scrum 20 metres out. Ben Mckenna-Smith continued his good form with the boot as he scored the extra two points.

There was still time for Brixham to be awarded a consolation penalty try right on the final whistle, but that didn’t have any impact on the match and Oke went home happy with a comfortable win on the road.

Okehampton U11s 35

Barnstaple U11s 20

A WELL drilled team from Barnstaple visited with a large squad, providing plenty of game time for everyone.

Both teams showed determination in both attack and defence. Barum demonstrated great passing techniques which kept the home team on their toes. Will opened the play with a kick which was knocked on by the visitors. A couple of scrums later there was a break for the opening try from Barum.

Throughout the game there were some tough tackles for Josh which he didn’t shy away from. A little slow to start, Oke were soon back to their best making inroads to Barnstaple’s defensive line. Teamwork and a held up ball stopped a Barnstaple try at the end of the first quarter.

Craddock again showed that he can duck and dive his way around the pitch. Will kicked to Saul for a try which showed good reading of the game. Shea was keeping pressure on around the scrums while Toby was often in the thick of the rucks with some big opposition players.

Adam scored three tries and Callum provided a try-saving tackle plus some good powerful runs. Saul scored another try at the end of the game.

It was a tough game for both teams on wet ground, but a great performance from everyone and lots of muddy smiles at the end.