Devon Cup first round

Plymouth Arguam U16a 0

Okehampton U16s 15

PLAYING away in far from ideal conditions Okehampton put in an excellent performance with the pack in outstanding form.

With the back row of Lee, Gillard and Scantlebury combining to great effect it was the Okes who adapted to the conditions far quicker. The mobile pack took on the far bigger Arguam forwards and produced excellent ball for the backs to make inroads into their opponents' territory.

Within ten minutes the visitors were ahead. A great two handed catch and drive by Stone took play well into their opponents half; a series of drives by both backs and forwards opened up Arguam and with Curtis moving ball swiftly to the left Pete Gillard went over for a lovely try.

Minutes later Paul Winthorpe increased the lead after a ruck indiscretion by an Arguam forward who were unable to cope with the pressure being exerted.

Oke's defence held firm whenever their opponents got their hand on the ball with Hignett, Hodgeson and Vernon playing well. Putting pressure on in midfield led to Will Searle intercepting and racing from halfway to score under the posts. Winthorpe duly converted.

In the second half playing up the slope and against the wind Oke continued to apply pressure through a mixture of driving and releasing the ball to the backs. Arguam to their credit defended well although their frustration began to boil over leading to a high penalty count.

Despite going close on a number of occasions the half was scoreless and it was only in the last five minutes that Arguam began to exert any sort of pressure near Oke's line.

Gary Down for Oke came on at half time and played well as did Ben Kearley who is improving with every game. Si Fellows at full back had a good game dealing well with some swirling kicks and was candidate for man of the match, finally awarded to Chris Pyle for his superb effort leading the forwards around the field.

Devon league

Tavistock U16s 77

Bideford U16s 0

TAVISTOCK were totally dominant in this Devon league fixture with the visitors unable to handle the greater pace and strength of the home side. 

The tone of the match was set from the Tavistock kick off as Bideford collected the ball but were soon turned over. The ball was quickly shipped through the backs to Jack Bond on the wing to run in the first of his three tries.  

Despite Tavistock handing over possession on several occasions through careless penalties, three further tries were soon added by the backs courtesy of centre Tom Thursby, full back Elliot Northmore and Bond's second. 

The loose forwards then joined the party as flanker Rowan Perry broke several tackles to cross the line. 

Dan Oner added to the score as the first half came to an end and went on to add three more tries in the second half.

Sam Lyndsey, Mark Friend and Tom Rickard also ran in tries during the second half and six of the 13 tries were converted by Josh Leeson and Elliot Northmore. 

Tavistock face a much sterner test next Sunday as they host Crediton who are currently unbeaten in the league.

Devon Cup

Crediton U15s 10

Okehampton U15s 10

A CLOSE contest was expected from these local rivals as they met in the second round of the cup.

Okehampton started well and immediately put the home side under pressure but a breakout from defence and some excellent ball retention brought Crediton into the Okehampton 22 where a blind side run gave them the first score.

Okehampton's response was good with backs and forwards combining well to drive towards the Crediton line where Thomas White powered over from close range. Matt Johns made an excellent conversion from the touchline to give Okehampton the lead.

A series of attacks from Henry Cooper, Craig Dennis and Matt Johns  failed to break through the Crediton defence and Okehampton had to settle for a 7-5 half-time lead.

The second half saw Okehampton continue to apply pressure with Sam Ewen controlling the pack and distributing well from scrum half.  A number of scoring opportunities were thwarted by the Crediton defence but Okehampton increased their lead with quick thinking from the excellent Ewen, who popped over a drop goal when no-one was expecting it.

Okehampton had further chances but failed to kill the game off which led to a nailbiting finish as Crediton raised their game. A series of penalties near the Okehampton line were magnificently defended but eventually Crediton manged to drive over with the last play of the match. The conversion was missed to leave the scores level but who had won? Okehampton thought they had won a tied match as the away side but a study of the rules revealed that the number of tries scored was the tie-breaker and Crediton go through to the next round.

Devon Cup round one

Tiverton U15 22

Tavistock U15s 14

TIVERTON opened the scoring with an early converted try, after which Tavistock's defence held firm against a buoyant opposition. 

This determination to face the challenge, was rewarded for the visitors with a well worked backs move resulting in Ed Longden breaking through for an impressive try, which was successfully converted by David Lunn. 

Tiverton hit back just before half time with a penalty kick to take a 10-7 first half lead. 

With the forwards battling well throughout this tight encounter, Tiverton broke through to open the scoring in the second half with a well worked converted try.  Tavistock, although down were certainly not out, and their ongoing development as a side was in evidence as Rob Hill broke through to score after a well rehearsed line out move against a surprised Tiverton defence.  Ed Longden's conversion reduced the margin to three points.  

Without the rub of the referee's decisions, Tavistock were facing a rearguard action for the final quarter and despite a herculean effort, conceeded a late try to lose the match 22-14.

Notable performances by Tavistock were the forwards No 8 Pete Meachin, Ben Parkin and Sam Jessop were only surpassed by the determined quality of Zak Cinnamond, whose fearless tackling and contribution to the pack, made him a worthy player of the match.