Crediton U13s 3

Okehampton U13s 3

OKEHAMPTON played the first half downhill. Alex made some superb tackles from the outset and several Crediton players dropped at the determined hands of Aedan, René, Sam and Tom. Oke won the ball from the majority of the scrums but tended to lose it when rucking. Overall, the team pulled together well, forming a solid defence, which held Crediton off their first try for ten minutes.

The visitors upped their game with smooth passes between Alex, Morgan, Jacob, Oscar, Ethan and Sam; Oscar made a good run before Crediton stole the ball, kicking it up the pitch for Ethan to pick up and equalise. Alex, René and Tom had a good run each. Alfie really shone when he stormed into contact with the ball, bullish like, head down, swatting his opponents’ efforts in their tracks to drive 10 metres of ground and setting a ruck. Crediton nipped the ball away, edging it back to 22m, under intense pressure from Alex, Cameron and Sam. Oscar’s tackle won it back, enabling Ethan to cross Crediton’s line to put Oke into the lead.

This was closely followed by a great try from Oscar. As Crediton rose to the challenge, Aedan, Alex and Sam all fearlessly tackling, there was a savage maul: the ball was ripped and ripped back by Aedan, but Crediton won it back. Despite a crashing tackle from Tom, Crediton closed the gap on Oke’s lead at the interval.

The second half showed great promise for Oke, with ruthless tackling from Lewis, good support from Oli and an excellent ruck from Sam and Marcus to regain possession.

Crediton’s equalising try came shortly before one of their players suffered a serious injury. The match was stopped with the final score a draw.

Alfie Davis was Oke’s player of the week.

Oke U12s 13 tries

Crediton U12s 2 tries

CREDITON scored an early try after stealing the ball off a half asleep Okehampton. This woke Oke up and they produced some superb passing, but Crediton’s defence were strong and denied Oke the chance of scoring on several occasions. This did not stop Oke, who became more determined and their hard work paid off, with some strong mauls, which resulted in their first try from Ed.

Oke kept pilling on the pressure and with more superb passing, which led to Shea getting their second try. Oke picked up the pace and were working well as a team and with Dan on form he powered through Crediton’s defence to get Oke’s third.

In the second quarter the game started off scrappy with both teams dropping the ball and knocking on. However it was not long before Oke found a way through the strong Crediton defence for Will to score his first try. Craddock then put a good ball through to Josh, who was denied his try, but with Oke working as a team, it was not long before they found a way through Crediton’s defence for Will to score his second.

In the third quarter Oke started off really well working as a team and it was not long before Lach’s got his first try. Crediton were tiring as Okehampton kept driving with some great mauls and rucks and their determination paid off with Lach’s getting his second try. Crediton refused to give up and they scored a great try to get one back. Okehampton piled on the pressure and Callum powered through to get a well deserved try. In the fourth Oke’s forwards powered forward and worked well together for Will to go over the try line. Shortly after Saul ran from back in defence to score a well deserved try. Great team work by Oke and some really strong rucks and passing culminated with Josh scoring. Keeping up the pressure Saul got his second try of the game.

At the end of the game the Oke players worked well together — the ball was passed out wide to Alex who made a great catch and ran through a tired Crediton to get Oke’s last try of the game. Crediton played well, but Okehampton’s excellent team work really showed.

Withycombe U11s 10

Tavistock U11s 45

DESPITE the sticky conditions under foot, the game started at a blistering pace. Archie Chalk took advantage of great ball retention to power through the middle to open the score for Tavistock.

The game soon settled into a much tighter affair, Tavistock were met with a strong defence from Withycombe, a side that had only lost one game this season. A well placed kick and chase from Withycombe saw them pounce on the loose ball to make it 5-5.

In the next 10 minutes, the quality of rugby in defence and attack from both teams was high. It was Tavistock’s Sam Palmer who broke through after a period of pressure to crash over making the score 10-5. Once again the game stayed in deadlock as both teams searched for a break.

Tavistock’s Solly Hunter constantly fed the ball out but only to be met with a quick defensive back line. It needed something special to break through the defence, and it came through a cross field kick from Tavistock’s Sam Perkins for Archie Davies to run on to score in the corner. The half time score ended 15-5 to Tavistock. Withycombe coach and referee got both teams together and congratulated them on what he described as the best half of rugby he had seen this season.

The opening of the second half was going to be key, coach Dan White asked for better protection of the ball for scrum half Solly Hunter, giving his backs more time to get on the front foot and that’s what they did. Centres William White and Archie Chalk, with strong runs, started to break tackles and turn the opposition, but it was great link play from White out to Sam Perkins and then out to Benjamin Madar that took them to within five metres of the line and a good step back inside from Benjamin with an offload to Amelie White powering through the Withycombe defence to take the game to 20-5.

Tavistock were looking more comfortable, and Chalk and Ted Wilkinson started to turn the game in defence and attack with great support from Sam Palmer and Amelie White. These four really putting a shift in and dominated the physical battle. It was a great platform that provided the quick ball to Sam Perkins who went straight through the middle to make the game 25-5.

The game was finished off by two tries from Archie Davies — his first was a great pick up off his toes to run down the line to score in the corner, his next a run from his wing to the next, using great footwork to beat the opposition. The game finished Withycombe 5 Tavistock 35

However, both teams loving their rugby and the score not reflecting the tight physical battle, both teams opted for an extra 10 minutes. Tavistock opened the scoring with Archie Davies receiving an offload from Banjamin Madar. Withycombe came back with some strong drives and powered the line to score. Tavistock dug in showing immense fitness to keep the pressure on, Ted Wilkinson, William White and Solly Hunter all having drives for the line but the Withycombe defense held. It was Tavistock’s Sam Palmer who ended the game with a well deserved and hard fought Try, bashing his way through the heart of the Withycombe line.

Withycombe U10s 3 tries

Tavistock U10s 5 tries

TAVISTOCK got off to a storming start with William A bursting through straight from the first whistle and scoring a try within seconds.

Withycombe regrouped and it took the Tavistock boys a little time to penetrate their attack. Some excellent tackling and rucking from Edward and Gabriel saw Tavistock keep the home side back and George put in some fearsome flying tackles to keep them at bay yards short of the line before they came back to score twice. It was Tavistock’s turn to be on the back foot and they came back with great strength. Alastair’s quick hands scooped up lost ball while Edward and Ernie ripped and rucked with power.

The visitors’ next try was an excellent team effort with Dominic, Matthew, Finlay and Gabriel passing the ball through hands and making ground only for Dylan to find a gap and force his way through to the line, reaching out and touching down at arms length after being tackled.

Dan was a force to be reckoned with, at one time surging through Withy’s defence with three players hanging off him. He was rewarded with two tries. 

Tavistock benefited from the speed of Rafferty, who worked well in support helping to pass the ball through hands and gain ground. And it was Harry’s pace that found gaps in Withy’s defence sending him on a jinking run through to score Tavistock’s winning try. 

Okehampton U9s 6 tries

Crediton U9s … 2 tries

OKEHAMPTON were off to a flying start as they took complete charge of the game to outclass Crediton.

Dylan led the charge, harrying the opposition and refusing to let them settle into any rhythm. With Lily punching holes in Crediton’s midfield, Oke showed great handling to move the ball up and down the line until Todd’s laser like pass picked out Ciaran on the wing, who scored in the corner.

Oke continued to knock back Crediton in the tackle, forcing repeated turnover ball. Tenacious running brought Wilf a brace of tries as he seemed impervious to the attempted tackles. A beautifully weighted pop pass from Zara was collected at pace by Dylan who surged through the waiting opposition to score a fine try. Ciaran capped off a fine overall performance with two more tries as he showed slick footwork — twice stepping in off his wing to beat his opposite number to score in the centre.

Okehampton U9s 3 tries

Crediton U9s 0 tries

OKEHAMPTON played with the same intensity in the second game and only some resolute touchline tackling from Crediton kept the Oke team from scoring more heavily. Stanley was everywhere on the pitch and taking no prisoners with some ferocious tackling before scoring a superb individual try.

The play of the match came as Charlie exploited a gap in midfield to set Stanley free, who beat half of the opposition before being brought down with a last ditch tackle a couple of feet short of the line. Fantastic support running from Jacob meant that he was perfectly placed to collect Stanley’s pass out of the tackle to score a try that brought the crowd to their feet. Marla and Rocco repeatedly tested the Crediton defence with weaving runs but it took some brute force and straight running from Ewan to breach the line and score Oke’s third.

Okehampton U9s 5 tries

Crediton U9s 2 tries

THERE was to be no respite for Crediton in game three as Oke again showed how well they work as a team to shut down the opposition.

Lily showed no mercy as she tore into Crediton with Todd being perennially on hand to speed the resultant ball down the line. Making excellent use of the width of the pitch, Oke worked the ball out to Wilf who accelerated away to score in the corner. Solid work in the centre from Mikey and Dylan generated space for Toby to score with a turbo charged surge to the line. From the restart Crediton knocked on and Zara was on hand to snaffle the free ball and offload it to Wilf, who wasn’t going to be stopped from 10 yards out as he scored his second.

Crediton hit back with two tries before Oke sealed victory with a try from Toby and another for Dylan on a scything run through the heart of the opposition defence.

Oke U9s 5 tries

Crediton U9s 5 tries

CREDITON finally found their rhythm in the final game as the two teams played out a fantastic end to end game.

Stanley started where he left off in his previous match with a flying solo try from the kick off. Oke switched off for a couple of minutes and conceded two soft tries before a lightening break from Jacob re balanced the scores.

Crediton were denied the lead as even though they had seemingly got over the Oke line, Oke hurled everyone into defence and somehow held the ball up before Jacob snaffled it back. Lewis broke away to clear the line, fed the ball to Charlie, who in turn fed Stanley, who pulled away from the chasing pack to score a well worked try.

Not to be outdone, Crediton came back in numbers but some no-holds barred tackling from Ewan and Marla kept them pegged back. As the game really started to open up, Rocco made great use of the space on a galloping run before offloading to Stanley to finish off the move with another try.

Crediton were determined to avoid a clean sweep of defeats and moved back into the lead with two powerful tries. With the last play of the game Oke pushed back down the field and Jacob bamboozled the Crediton defence with an outrageous dummy to sneak into the corner to level the match.