aPlymstock U16s 24

Okehampton U16s 17

OKEHAMPTON will be disappointed with their performance in a match they could and should have won.

Oke defeated Plymstock away earlier this season, but were hampered by injuries. They also were slow to wake up and found themselves three scores down at 17-0, barely a quarter through the match. Falling off tackles they gifted scores which ultimately cost them a victory.

It took until the last five minutes of the first half for Oke to rise from their slumbers and a catch and drive line out score from the prolific Greg Daniel left it 17-5 at the interval.

Oke also began brightly in the second period and reduced the arrears further with a copycat score from number eight Daniel. This time Ben Mckenna-Smith added the extras and the visitors were right back in the game.

Unfortunately, Oke lost the ball in an attacking position soon afterwards and allowed the home backs too much space, which they exploited. A couple of phases later the hosts crossed out wide to put the game out of Oke’s reach. There was still time for Greg Daniel to plunder his hat trick score, via yet another lineout drive, but it was to little too late.  

Okehampton were their own worst enemies in this match and need to get back into switched on mode for the remaining league matches to ensure a positive finale to their season.

Okehampton U15 50

Crediton U15s 0

OKEHAMPTON U15s finally took to the field for a game of rugby after two months of cancellations due to the appalling recent weather. Opponents Crediton arrived short of a player, so both teams agreed to play with 14. The front pitch was extremely heavy but playable and the visitors kicked off.

Oke attacked straight away and looked spritely and keen with some strong running and good work at the break down to recycle quickly. A few knock-ons gave Crediton scrums from which to mount their own offensives, but there were some solid scrums from the Okes’ pack to counter any threats.

Slowly, the home side began to exert their authority on the game, and the back line combined superbly to provide Noah Cracknell with the platform from which to score three tries in quick succession.

With their tails up Okehampton continued to find openings, with Ollie Browne having a particularly great game, with some good carries and a try of his own.

Crediton, even though they were on the ropes, continued to make a game of it, never giving the home side the chance to relax completely.

With a strong squad Oke were able to give all players a game and further tries came from Mo Taylor, Tom Stevens, Ewan Northcott and George Dickinson. This was a good performance from the whole team to get the season going again, and it was pleasing to see George Harding return after injury playing so well at full back. All credit to Crediton for their determination and sportsmanship.

Okehampton U14s 27

Crediton U14s 14

DESPITE the sticky, muddy conditions, the first half saw Okehampton move the ball well.  Five minutes in a clearance kick from Crediton was collected well by full back Greg Haste, who ran from halfway, handing off opposition to open the scoring. 

This was swiftly followed by a great break from fly half Will Cunningham, who side stepped his way through the Crediton defence to score. 

With Crediton being a prop short the scrums were uncontested, but the Okehampton pack were strong around the pitch and 20 minutes in, a superb steal in the lineout by Barnaby Waddell, saw him make a powerful break, gaining good ground, before passing the ball out across the backs to Olly Northcott, who steamed up the wing to score. 

Just before the half time whistle, Cole Pengelly turned over Crediton’s ball, with Saul Holliday in support to cross the line. 

The second half saw Crediton with a lot more possession, with a high penalty count against Okehampton.  Fifteen minutes in and against the run of play, a break by Barnaby Waddell put Will Cunningham through for his second try of the day. 

Okehampton’s defensive tackling was outstanding during the whole game, denying Crediton any points in another great, all round, team performance.

Tavistock  U11s

Newton Abbott U11s

DRY and mild weather welcomed both teams although it was heavy underfoot.  Neither side had played a competitive game since before Christmas and it was Tavistock who started the brighter.

They had a defined defensive and attacking lines and were fluent in passing the ball. This led to scores from Luke (2), Callum and Mack for Tavistock while, Newton Abbot could only muster one score in the first 15 minutes.

The visitors were slow to get into their stride but became more aggressive as the game progressed and started to gain confidence and slowly began to take control of the game. They managed to score seven times without the home team replying. Tavistock, who initially looked impressive, were beginning to fall off tackles and lose their shape.  Newton Abbot fully exploited  the lack of cohesion from the home team and gained in stature whereas Tavistock failed to build on the momentum generated in the first 15 minutes and lost their composure. Tavistock scored once more from Seb but the game was out of their grasp by then and the visitors gained a convincing victory.

Crediton U11s 30

Okehampton U11s 60

CREDITON took charge but it was Oke who scored first with a try for Shea. After another near try for Oke, Crediton sprung into action. Some sharp tackles from Alex for Oke could not prevent a long run by a Crediton player for a try; this was swiftly followed by three more for the visitors.

Oke kept the pressure on and advanced up the pitch. Ben, Shea and Saul where creating moves to spur the others into action.

Adam put in a long run before offloading to Callum for his first try while Toby and Callum’s work saw a second try for Callum. Lachs did a great job of clearing out the rucks.

A lot of Oke play was close to the touchline which made it easy for Crediton to push into touch.

Crediton kicked the ball which bounced just in front of Saul, who caught it and ran up the pitch, passed to Lachs, who off-loaded to Callum for his third try. An outstanding ’try’ from Ben was disallowed as he had just gone into touch.

Crediton were now beginning to panic at the constant Oke pressure as Adam and Lachs each scored one try in this quarter.

The second half opened and a lot of passing close to the tryline finally resulted in a try for Will. A kick from Crediton went straight into Saul’s hands who nipped through for a try. Crediton though responded with two tries. Toby, Ed, Shortie and Josh kept up the pressure, ready to dart in any direction when needed and put in some solid tackles.

A Crediton player put on a sprint along the wing, but a cracking tackle from Finn crashed him into touch. Archie kept a presence on the wing and Dan was always there supporting the other lads. Tries came from Lachs and Adam towards the end of the game.

This was a good team effort by Oke against a greatly improved Crediton team.

Crediton U9s 13 tries

Okehampton U9s 6 tries

WITH a depleted squad of 10, Okehampton made the short trip to Crediton, with what looked like it was going to be a muddy game against a large squad of players.

It turned out to be quite a game but the score did not represent the quarters that were played and Crediton fielded a new team each quarter, while their opponents only changed a few players.

There was excellent play all round for Oke, and noted improvement from the last few games. They retained possession well in tackles with Noah playing well at scrum half.

Oke were dominant in attack, running some nice straight lines forward from Joe, Amy and Jeremy. They passed well to get the ball out to players in space with good offloading from Conlaed, Vinnie and Robbie. Crediton were strong runners but Oke had a couple of try saving tackles from Phoebe and James.

Lucy commanded the game well, and led by example scoring four of the six tries, with Phoebe and James scoring the others.