Okehampton U12s 2 tries

Topsham U12s 1 try

OKEHAMPTON opened with good aggressive play and a great first catch by Alex from the kick-off.

They set a swift pace, with some fierce tackles from Alex, Elliot, Ethan, Marcus and Sam in the opening minutes and excellent rucking and counter-rucking from Isaac, Luke, Marcus, Seth, Tyler and Tom.

Their first mistake appeared as a penalty to Topsham for being offside, but they quickly made amends, with more devastating tackles that caused a knock-on from Topsham. Fast and accurate passing between Aedan and Ethan, followed by a superb ruck (which included Aedan, Alex, Elliot and Seth) drove the ball towards the try line and Ethan scored.

Okehampton kept up the pressure with great defence, effective communication and team-work — ripping, rucking, driving and tackling to gain and keep possession.

Oke contained Topsham in their half with the constant threat of another try, fulfilled by Jacob, as he, Cameron, Ethan, Harry, Isaac, Jacob and Marcus all made good runs.

Topsham fought back hard and a desperate tackle from Ethan, Isaac and Marcus pushed the ball out.

Persistent hounding from Aedan, Cameron, Ethan, Luca, Marcus, Sam and Tom made it tough for Topsham to break away, but as they went down under yet another tackle from the Okes, they managed to escape to the line and ground the ball.

A spectacular tackle from Ethan floored his speeding opponent just before the final whistle - Okehampton feeling proud of their result.

Despite facing an almost entirely fresh team in the second game, Okehampton remained savage. They were clearly tiring, but still determined. Although they couldn’t match the vigour of their opponents, their spirit remained intact and their tenacity unbreakable.

Okehampton U12s 0

Topsham U12s 6 tries

OKEHAMPTON suffered a 6-0 defeat, despite their consistent efforts, but the glory of their original victory carried them off the pitch with smiling faces and an evident sparkle.

Paignton U11s

Tavistock U11s

PAIGNTON were aggressive from the start, and were able to recycle the ball effectively to score tries from both of their first two attacks.    

Without the ball Tavistock were under pressure — the wet and muddy conditions made it tricky to hold on in the tackle and Paignton’s runners were able to slip through several times in the first half to extend the home side’s advantage.

Tavistock’s attacking play was free flowing but too often the ball was taken into tackle and lost.  Eventually, Seb for Tavistock broke through a couple of tackles and ran over to open Tavistock’s account but this was not the start of a recovery, with Paignton continuing to test Tavistock’s defence to breaking point.

Tavistock’s second try came when a  Paignton player was tackled and Luke intercepted the resulting attempted pass to break free and score.  

The final quarter of the game was more even, with Tavistock having more of the ball and being unlucky not to score on a couple of separate occasions.

Sam, Chris and Luke put in some great tackles and with conditions continuing to deteriorate the boys displayed great determination right up until the final whistle, playing with guts and enthusiasm despite being on the wrong end of the result.

 Topsham U11s 1 try

Okehampton U11s 2 tries

THIS was a tough match for Okehampton against a worthy opposition as Topsham are a well drilled and disciplined team.

As soon as the whistle blew Callum for Oke was on the ball taking charge. The ball came out of the ruck for Shea to kick and Saul to chase and scoop; he was tackled. Josh picked from the scrum, passed to Will and on to Lachs for his try.

Throughout the game the ball would find its way well into the Oke half and they worked hard to prevent Topsham from scoring. There was plenty of kicking to and fro from both teams was seen before a try was scored by Topsham.

Okehampton were deft at using the whole team to pass and make tracks into the Topsham defence. Constant Oke pressure would often leave no option for the home side but to kick the ball away as they could not make tracks through the Oke lads.

A Topsham kick from the their own tryline was caught by Adam, who pounded his way back through for his try.

The second half saw an early try-saving tackle from Oke’s Craddock. Will made a few quick rips, possibly before the opposition knew what was happening. Alex and Saul should both be mentioned for some outstanding tackles.

There was good pressure from all as Okehampton deserved their win.

Paignton U9s 3 tries

Tavistock U9s 2 tries

THIS was an outstanding performance by Tavistock against an aggressively defensive Paignton side in treacherous conditions.

Fearless tackling from Tavistock’s Alastair and Gabriel and some great defence from Joe and Finlay helped keep the Paignton players at bay.

There were really terrible conditions with the driving rain quickly turning the pitch into a quagmire, but Tavistock kept their heads up against some really fierce tackling by Paignton.

William TY, William J and Austin worked well together to hold the ball up and Tavistock turned the ball over with a series of seven fine tackles. Ernie snatched up the ball and then bustled through, dodging four attempted tackles to race through to score.

There was some great teamwork from this Tavistock team and just before the end some lovely passing between Alastair, Ernie and James, which sent James through to touch down.

Paignton U9s 2 tries

Tavistock U9s 7 tries

TAVISTOCK erected a tower of force against Paignton in this second game, putting in some crunching tackles to turn the ball over time and time again. 

William opened the scoring for Tavistock, snatching up the ball and bursting through to touch down over the try line. Despite the conditions, Tavistock played some lovely passing rugby with the ball going through the hands of Matthew, William A and Jack to send Daniel powering over the line to score the first of two tries.

Jack, Daniel, Edward and Nathan were fearless in their tackling as was Dominic, who put in some fierce challenges. No one expected to see any running rugby on this claggy pitch, but Jack showed some blistering pace to touch down twice after running nearly the full length of the pitch. 

Tavistock kept their defensive line strong, with great work from George M, Dominic and Nathan, who was rewarded with two tries, one after picking up the ball on the opposition try line.

Topsham U9s 20 tries

Okehampton U9s 6 tries

OKEHAMPTON were put to the sword  by a large Topsham squad, who were hard to break down and put away their chances.

Oke’s small team played their hearts out tackling all that moved and showing some glimpses of the form they have been playing.

Roman played well for Oke in the first two quarters putting in some great tackles all around the pitch but ending up with a black eye and sore knee.

Hector (1 try) and Ollie (2) made some good runs to score. Top passing by Lucy, Seb and Conn led to a try. Joe for Oke put in a good stint playing his best game to date with great tackling and runs.

Lucy (3) worked hard in support to pick up tries.