Cullompton U16s 5

Okehampton U16s 25

THE Okehampton boys continued their recent fine run of form with another strong showing.  On a dry sunny morning, Oke travelled to take on a Cullompton side for the first time in several seasons.

Oke began down the slight slope and were backed by a crisp, cold breeze. Cully had a large pack and were keen to move the ball wide in the early exchanges, but it was the Okes who struck first. Powerful centre Harry Cole hit a great angle and powered through the defensive cover for  a fine score after six minutes. Fellow centre Ben Mckenna-Smith landed the extras to  make it 7-0 after as many minutes. The center’s fine kicking form shown over previous weeks continued, and he added another brace of penalties to take Oke to a 13-0 lead midway through the first half.

Although Oke were in the ascendancy, they were falling foul of the ref’s whistle with regularity and were also guilty of missing several clear cut try scoring opportunities. This came back to bite them, when the home full back showed good pace to take an outside arc and score to make it just 13-5 to Okes at the break.

Oke knew they needed a strong second half to take home a valuable win, this they did after a few early scares. Strong defensive resolve saw Oke snuff out Cully’s initial attacks and eventually Oke moved upfield with purpose.

A strong set of forward drives created the platform, and when the ball was switched blind, Ben Mckenna-Smith had enough strength to stretch over for a vital score to make it 18-5.

Cully were now struggling to contain the Okes and another try looked increasingly likely. When it did arrive it was  a cracker. Greg Daniel made the initial break after a typically forceful foray through the midfield, flanker Jack Ogbourne in close support, and his long pass found Harry Cole who scorched over in the corner to score his second try.

Ben Mckenna-Smith landed a superb conversion from the touchline, and at 25-5 it was game over. This was a fine all round performance from the boys against a side they may well face again in the end of seasons play offs. 

Devon Cup

Tavistock U15s 7

Cullompton U15s 17

ON a beautifully sunny day, Tavistock, unusually playing in their second team strip of white tops, faced a strong Cullompton side in this year’s semi finals of the U15s Devon cup.

Tavistock hadn’t faced Cullompton for a number of years but they knew they were in for a strong, hard game. Tavistock started really well with Josh Davies making a great run down the pitch, before the forwards of Toby Teague and Tom Mackenzie secured the ball.

Then a number of pick and goes from Pete Bull and captain John Lord moved the team up to the Cullompton posts. Quick ball from Tavistock scrum half Tom Pearson, got it out to the backs - Luke Lewandowski, Zac Gorton, James Paxman - and straight onto Freddie Williams who scored on the corner. An excellent kick from Josh Davies saw Tavistock 7-0 ahead.

Cullompton made some handling errors and Tavistock were again close to their try line but excellent anticipation from the Cullompton number 14 saw him intercept a pass and run the ball the length on the pitch.

Some brave defending and tackling couldn’t stop the try that followed. It was not converted but Cullompton started to gain confidence and a second try, just before half time, but also unconverted, took the score to 7-10 to Cullompton.

Tavistock entered the second half again trying to secure the ball and keep forwards in the game. The throws from hooker Jason Blake were working and the excellent Archie Allen was gaining the yards for Tavistock, but Cullompton were quick in their defence and at the ruck,

Tavistock were isolated a number of times which gave possession back to Cullompton. Their number eight proved to be difficult to stop and eventually Cullompton got their third try which was converted. Tavistock did not give in and a great run from Jude White, skipping through a number of tackles and nearly breaking through, gave the team hope but they just could not get through.

Both coaches confirmed the game was the hardest of the season for both teams but it is Cullompton who move onto the final.

The whole Tavistock team should feel extremely proud of their commitment and performance as they gave their heart and soul for each other. It was a great team performance despite the result.

Exeter/Exmouth U15s 12

Okehampton U15s 41

AFTER the disappointment of their cup loss, and another couple of cancelled games, Okehampton U15s got back to winning ways with a convincing victory against a combined Exeter/Exmouth side. The home side kicked off; Oke secured the ball but were turned over but were then awarded a penalty. A poor kick did not find touch and Exeter ran it back, down the wing to score a quick try – but a foot in touch denied them the points.

This stung Oke into action and they began to work together to put together some good phases with excellent work from the pack, which resulted in Daichi Budiman breaking through to score between the posts.

From the restart Brad Simmons caught and span a pass out to Daichi who ran it before off loading to Greg Solkin, who burst through the Exeter defence on a great run before passing perfectly to Noah Cracknell to score Oke’s second try.

Another period of good play led to a third, which was scored by Ollie Browne who powered his way to the line.

Exeter themselves were playing some good rugby and from the kick off ran the ball and when their pacy winger burst through the Oke defence a try looked certain, but Noah caught him five metres out to save the score.

The visitors defended gamely against the Exeter assault that followed and from a well-won scrum a cross field kick allowed George Dickinson to gather and run the length of the field to score.

Ben Bolt caught the high kick off well, and his good work led to Oke’s next try, scored by Ewan, who added another a few minutes later.

Exeter were not beaten, however, and finally nabbed some points with two well-worked tries.

Okehampton sealed the game after another big carry from Ollie linking with Noah who ran in his second. This was a welcome return to form in what has been a tough season for Okehampton, and a strong team performance, with all players contributing to the win.

Tavistock U11s 25

Paignton U11s  40

TAVISTOCK knew they would be facing formidable opposition on Sunday if previous meetings between these two sides were any indication.

The first of four quarters certainly had the home team on the back foot, Paignton racking up four tries in quick succession.

In the  second quarter, with the help of the downhill incline Tavistock finally found some form. Dylan, Callum and James all displaying their usual strong tackling style and Barney H and Finn also putting in some good tackles meant the visitors were only allowed one more try in this quarter. Some good passing and breaks from Tavistock meant James was finally rewarded with a try to get them on the score sheet.

Quarter three continued to be evenly balanced between the two sides. Sam once again showing that size is no barrier, bringing down opposition players twice his size.

Mack and Callum provided some great driving runs. Callum eventually  breaking through several tackles to find James on the wing for a second try for Tavistock.

Tavistock had really built up a great momentum by quarter four; Luke’s pace down the wing brought home another try for the home team, with James following shortly afterwards with a breakaway run from the half way line to score his hat-trick. 

Keeping up the pressure on the Paignton team got Barney R over the line for a final try for Tavistock.

In the end it was not enough to narrow the Paignton lead but a fine performance from all the boys.

Okehampton U9s

Launceston U9s

ON a lovely sunny morning on the back pitches in Okehampton the under 9s  played Launceston.

The games were a mixture of some great tackling in defence and strong straight running in attack. Launceston scored through a few missed Oke tackles and allowing them to gain yardage on the whistle.

There was good support of the ball carrier and Oke chased the opposition to the try line never giving up.

The ball was moved around the pitch and passed out of the tackles well.

Tries came from great team work allowing Phoebe to score two and Hector to score three.

Tavistock U9s 3 tries

Paignton U9s 3 tries

TAVISTOCK put up a hard fought battle in this closely matched, tough tackling game; the boys knuckled down with a strong show of force.

Some excellent tackling from the first whistle from Finlay and William A was not quite enough to stop Paignton from scoring their first try.

Dominic was impressive with his tackling, almost winning the ball back on a turnover singlehandedly.

Tavistock showed off some lovely running rugby passing the ball between them. William A drove through the Paignton defence popping back a great offload to Finlay who ran in for the first of two tries.

In the second half some great team work from Matthew, Dominic, Finlay and Nathan kept Tavistock level pegging with the opposition.

Great support play from William E and Austin sent Max in for a great try.

Tavistock U9s 5 tries

Paignton U9s 5 tries

THERE was some great tackling right from the start from Tavistock as the team put themselves on the line in defence. Superb strikes from George P Gabriel and Edward kept Paignton at bay and they put together a great string of passes too to send Ernie in for a try.

Edward worked very well in defence and attack in this game, offloading to Michael who went on a zigzagging run round the Paignton players to touch down. Jack too put in some crunching tackles and was rewarded with two tries.

Tavistock showed their strength against a strong Paignton side, working well as a team with William TY and Lewis powering through before offloading to Edward who scored.