SIXTEEN teams took part in the Devon U12s Rugby Festival at Kingsbridge. On a windy day, Okehampton were drawn against Sidmouth, Exmouth and Teignmouth which meant no easy games in this pool for the squad of Michael Aylen, Stuart Bennie, David Binns, Tom Browne, Jake Chisholm, Richard Friend, James Heard, William Heard, Robert Long, Tom McGratton, Scott Simpson, Jonathan Trussler, Mason Whittle and Alex Wooldridge.
Okehampton?s first game against Teignmouth started well with a good scrum-ball. Will Heard passed to full-back Mason going on the blindside to score.
Teignmouth attacked and chipped over the Okehampton back line, Mason catching the ball and beating the chasing players then running down the wing to score.
Teignmouth had wind advantage in the second half and soon scored but good defence stopped any more and Mason ran in a third try to seal a good 15-5 win.
Okehampton won the toss against Exmouth and played with the slope and wind. Exmouth kicked straight to Mason who beat several players to score.
Okehampton forwards winning good ball allowed Mason to score two more tries by coming into the back line.
The second half was more even with both teams scoring one try, final score 20-5 to Okehampton.
With enough points to go through to the next round Okehampton did not play well against Sidmouth and lost 20-10. This set up a quarter-final place with host side Kingsbridge who had beaten Newton Abbot, Exeter Saracens and a combined side to win their pool.
In the quarter-final Okehampton bounced back. The forward battle was fairly even but the back line tackling of David Binns, Tom McGratton, Jake Chisholm and Mason was awesome, only allowing Kingsbridge one try while Okehampton ran in four, all by Mason, two from penalty moves. A good 20-5 win and a semi-final match with Devonport Services.
Okehampton defended well with crunching tackles stopping Services in their tracks, but lack of good ball meant Okehampton could never put Services under sustained pressure. Services won 15-0, Ivybridge beat Devonport 5-0 to win the final.