Paignton U13s 15

Okehampton U13s 10

A ’Silent Sunday’ was planned for all rugby teams in Devon which meant that supporters could only clap today and not shout, we, the visitors, adhered to this request.

The game started with a Paignton kick to Okehampton’ s Ed and a quick ruck. Arion was passing well, all the Oke team worked well passing today. Ben played well at centre today, determined tackling from him throughout.

Adam scored the first try for Oke dragging along whoever held on to him. Play restarted and Paignton made a break; they were taken into touch but swiftly scored their first try. Paignton kicked to restart, but it was caught by Adam who kicked it back up into Paignton’s half. Lachs was driving, ruck and Dan got the ball out, passed to Josh. A scrum was won by Paignton which they kicked into touch. The Oke ball was then constantly recycled and passed and after a lot of hard work by all, a well rewarded try was made by Lachs.

Oke were given a free kick. Callum, as always, constantly worked hard, giving everything he can. The first half ended with a try saving tackle from Tom.

The second half opened with Paignton firing on all cylinders and giving Oke a much harder and faster paced half. Oke responded well to this and kept responding to everything they faced. Craddy darted around constantly, Shortie and Reuben were always there ready to go. Dan powered on but he was tackled again and again.

Paignton scored two tries in the second half but the visitors held their heads throughout this challenging game and played well, considering many were playing away from their usual position or were new to the game.

Okehampton U10s 9 tries

Paignton U10s 6 tries

OKEHAMPTON started with real intent as Dylan S made an early burst through the Paignton defence; he fed the ball to Wilf who shipped it on with quick hands to Toby to open the scoring.

Oke went two up as Toby grabbed another with an acrobatic one-handed swan dive. Oke proved to be more adept at keeping the ball alive with Freddie and Mickey showing good handling skills as Thomas popped up on the end of a wonderfully flowing move to score.

Paignton came back with some strong moves through the middle but Oke refused to be cowed. Dylan S and Ewan put in some savage tackles and Toby repeatedly ripped opposition ball and set up Wilf to score on the burst to stretch the lead. Freddie punched a hole through the Paignton defence and popped a lovely pass to Ewan who rounded two defenders to score. Two more running tries from Toby were followed by a first for Louis who crashed through three tacklers to score. A pulsating game was finished off as Wilf bulldozed over in the corner to score with half the opposition team hanging off him.

Okehampton U10s 4 tries

Paignton U10s 13 tries

IN the second match Paignton significantly upped their game. Oke demonstrated plenty of determination but Paignton were much stronger in the ruck and counter ruck so that Oke struggled to retain meaningful possession.

Despite Jacob tackling like a one man wrecking ball Paignton continued to rack up the tries. Oke hit back with a brace of well taken tries from both Henry and Lewis but in the end it was not enough to prevent a sizeable defeat.

Okehampton U10s 1 try

Paignton U10s 6 tries

OKEHAMPTON did not get going in the third match as Paignton again played with greater intensity and starved Oke of the ball. Dylan S, Wilf and Ewan all weighed in with some desperate tackling but could not keep out every attack.

Dylan T gave the home team hope as he surged forward on a jinking run but was brought down just short of the line. Toby finally got Oke on the score sheet with a late consolation try with a great break down the wing.

Okehampton U10s 9 tries

Paignton U10s 2 tries

OKEHAMPTON roared back in the final game with a vastly improved performance that blew Paignton away. A bullocking run brought Rocco the first try of an eventual hat-trick, with Henry also scoring three.

Oke showed great team work to hold their line and keep Paignton at bay before finishing off the game with two wonderful tries from Jacob and Lewis weaving their way through the ineffective opposition tackles.

Paignton U9s 9 tries

Okehampton 8 tries

OKEHAMPTON took an early lead with three tries up but Paignton came back strongly, proving to be a strong side. The visitors were more than up for the challenge with strong tackles, good support and a great defensive line from the start.

Dylan made the first try of the game and the U9’s team together made sure they kept coming; Corey scored the next with an amazing run filled with confidence and energy with further tries from Archie Sam W and Myles. None of these would have been possible without Oke’s defensive line held strong by Joseph, Dylan, Luke and Felicity.

Amalie made some stand out tackles. Oke’s player of the match Myles made a powerful 2 feet push with two Paignton players on his heels. There was an excellent turnover ball from Dylan just before the first half whistle blew to take the score to 6-4 up at half time.

In the second half Paignton came back fighting. Oke kept strong and it made for some fast paced gameplay with many more tackles and tries.

Joseph for Oke made a run through nearly scoring but got tacked inches from the try line. Last few moments of the game Freddie went for it with a great run scoring the last try of the game.

This was a close game of which either side  could have won.