Tavistock U16s 12

Topsham U16s 19

THIS was a close match that the visitors just about deserved to win. However, the home team were never short on spirit and never gave up.

Charlie, the Tavistock captain, led from the front and had a superb game while Jay kicked out of trouble with great skill and length and the forwards had the edge in the scrum. Tavistock's first try followed some sustained pressure from the forwards with Angus and Alec driving forward with pick and go rugby for Charlie to crash his way through in inimitable style. Tavistock's second try again came from the a rolling maul that ended up with three Tavistock players with their hand on the ball.

All credit to Topsham who moved the ball well and defended fiercely. It was a fine game played in a good spirit .

Teighmouth U15s 25

Okehampton U15s 10

OKEHAMPTON needed to step up after their previous week's performance against South Molton and despite

losing the match step up they did against what is considered to be one of the top five clubs in Devon at this age group.

The Okehampton side played with more commitment, organisation and passion. The forwards worked  more as a unit and prevented Teignmouth from getting quick ball and often counter rucked to get turnover ball. The Oke backs were more organised in their defensive lines. The damage was done, however, in the first half where Teignmouth, although made to work hard, had three unanswered tries.

The second half was more of a stalemate with both sides scoring two tries a piece. Daniel Thorne scored both for Okehampton.

This was a great game to watch and pleasing to see that the whole Okehampton side can step up to the big challenges.

Devon Plate

Tavistock U15s 38

Crediton U15s 22

TAVISTOCK started this game brightly and raced to a 21-0 lead.

Ben Milligan opened Tavistock's account with some nifty footwork and racing into the left hand corner. George Hillson converted with the goal kick of the season from the touchline and in wet and windy conditions.

Ethan Lamerton scored shortly after cutting back inside to dart under the posts and Hillson added the conversion. Ben Milligan posted a third for Tavistock with a fine solo run from inside his own half. Milligan rounded several defenders before kicking through and out pacing the full back to the touch down. Again Hillson added the extras.

Tavistock then seemed to take their foot off the gas and Crediton's impressive line speed and powerful scrum started to get them back into the game and they scored two tries, bringing the half time score to 21-10.

Second half changes for the home side saw the powerful running of Richard Cann make an impact on the flank and a new centre combination of Bernie Sadler and James Lewis seemed to work well.

A well executed maul from a lineout saw Tavistock drive over with the hard working Harry Jeans coming up with the score before Milligan raced in to complete his hat trick, which Hillson duly converted.

Crediton did not give up and some strong direct running saw them score a third. Tavistock bounced back with the hard running James Lewis scoring a try after earlier being unlucky to be held up over the line. Again Crediton dug deep and after some impressive rucking and ball retention skills they scored their fourth try, which was converted.

Okehampton U14s 22

Teignmouth U14s 0

AN unsurprisingly rusty performance form the Okes after the lengthy yuletide lay off. However a four try comprehensive victory still ensued, despite the brave efforts of the visitors.

Okes lent Teigns a player to make up the full fifteen, and took an early lead through the prolific Greg Daniel after a powerful surge through the centre channel. Ben Mckenna -Smith added the extras.

Oke failed to ruck efficiently throughout though, and their failure to move the ball wider more often cost them the chance of a bigger winning margin. When they did spread the ball, Oke found joy. Their second try came through simple left to right hands, and winger Ollie Arden finished well in the corner to leave the half time score 12-0 to the home side.

Oke made changes and remained in control. They scored two more scores in the second half; unsurprisingly both arrived via passes to the flanks. The first was a good solo effort from left winger Ben Mckenna-Smith who dotted down in the left corner.

The final try came from centre Harry Cole who ran well to score in the very same corner. Both conversions were missed but a comfortable win was in the bag as the Okes look to regain their full form in the weeks to come.

Tavistock U13s 34

Crediton U13s 0

TAVISTOCK U13s started the year in fine form with a win away against Crediton.

James Paxman got things off to a flying start with the first try in the first minute. The ball was moved quickly down the back line between Olly Noy Scott and George Kharas; George fed James who stormed over the try line. Jack Smyly made the conversion. Jude White, Joe Burbage and Peter Bull all then completed a further three tries for Tavistock. It was Peter who showed great perception and vision to score through a gap in the middle of the Crediton forwards after a well won ruck. 

The second half brought about some tactical changes as the thick mud sapped the energy from the players. Zac Gorton and Luke Lewandowski put fresh legs into the backs and Jacob Holbourg also came onto the front row.

The inspired Jude scored two more tries for the team in the second half. Although perhaps not the most skilful of matches, mainly due to the muddy conditions, confidence returns to the Tavistock team, allowing them to look forward to the second half of the season with the quarter finals of the Devon cup, the 2014 festival and the team tour to come. 

Okehampton U13s 21

Teignmouth U13s 17

THIS quarter final cup match was a close fought game.

Okehampton was first to strike with a superb run by number eight Tom Stevens from within his own half, going over right under the posts; George D converted.

Oke then seemed to lack concentration, missing tackles and losing several scrums in a row, giving away important possession. This led to a try by Teignmouth, equalling the score. The home side spent the rest of the half defending hard right up to their line and were saved by some excellent tackling by Noah and the forwards.

Bad passing led to an interception by Teignmouth using it to their advantage and scoring again. Ollie and George H for Oke both made penetrating solos runs but lacking support could not turn these into tries.

Oke came out more fired up in the second half, attacking the opposition line for a sustained period and finally broke through with another strong effort from Tom S.

The Oke pack began to win their scrums and the passing out became more co-ordinated. A scrum near the line, with a pass out to Tom S, running forward at pace, resulted in his third try; Nathan T (two tries) converted a difficult kick. Teignmouth scored again but were unable to catch Oke. It was not the best performance by Oke but they still managed a win and need a little more consistency if they have their eye on lifting the cup.

Crediton U12s 0

Tavistock U12s 61

TAVISTOCK started 2014 with a clinical display at Crediton.

The visitors returned Crediton's kick off with a strong ruck; a quick ball from scrum half Tom Persse went out to Harry Edwards and through the hands of centres Edward Tait and Sam Essex, onto Henry Varndell Dawes on the wing who stretched the Crediton defence, passing inside to Sam Essex to put down Tavistock's first.

The second try came after fly half Harry Edwards spotted the lack of cover and Henry chased down Harry's kick to tackle and turn over the ball followed by a quick dart over the line.

Henry added two more with Matt Davey again pouncing on a five metre ruck to pick to power through a mass of defenders. Luke Edwards was given the half chance he needed after some strong maul work from the Tavistock forwards to leave the Crediton defence standing with a blistering sprint down the wing from halfway.

Crediton were no slackers in the loose with strong rucking from both sides but the Tavistock tackling and defensive pressure kept them at bay.

The second half saw Tavistock relax a little and allowed Crediton to push harder but the visitors held firm and Henry added two more with Harry Edwards being rewarded for his work rate with an interception try from a Crediton scrum. Hard work by the Tavistock pack gave them the platform to keep the pressure on with Edward Tait and James Kenyon putting in some crunching tackles on the big Crediton forwards and James Roissetter earning player of the match for line out control and had yards in the loose.

This was a superb team effort by Tavistock U12s.

Teignmouth U12s 12

Okehampton U12s 14

TWO evenly matched sides met at Bitton Park, Teignmouth, to fight out what was a close and exciting match. 

Okehampton came away narrow winners, after Teignmouth missed their final conversion to tie the game. 

Oke had the ascendancy in the first 20 minutes, with good rucking and scrummaging leading to a try for Barnaby Waddell, after rocking and rolling his way to the line; it was converted by Joshua Burgoyne.  Teignmouth then came back with some good backs play and, after considerable pressure, Oke conceded a soft, converted try. 

The closing ten minutes saw both sides grab a try apiece, with Okehampton scoring through the elusive Will Cunningham touching down in the corner, after returning a loose kick; it was converted by Daniel Wonnacott. 

Teignmouth again touched down, but in vain after missing their conversion. 

Oke tackled well throughout, with Cole Pengelly, Charlie Glanville and James Close leading from the front. 

Saul Holliday put in another improved performance, as did Sonny Luxton and James Stevens. 

Teignmouth U10s 75

Okehampton U10s 20

AFTER last season's thrashing by the same team the first 10 minutes looked like history repeating itself as Okehampton took to warming up but things soon turned around as Oke's defence sprang into life quickly followed by an attack.

Seth and Ethan for Oke went straight into rucks and mauls and Cameron flew in with some hard hitting tackles. Teignmouth's weakness of having to defend rather than just attack soon became clear. This soon became a game of two halves with both teams struggling to really take control of the game.

With Holly, Ethan, Joe, Alex, Marcus, Cameron and Morgan using their strengths in tackling and Seth rucking and driving forward Okes' defence was getting hard to break through for the home side.

Teignmouth pushed forward but Sam, Isaac and Aedan for Oke were on the ball and were key players in their team's efforts. With Okes' fast runners, Joe, Jacob and Aedan scoring the side has definitely stepped up their game since last season and gave Teignmouth a good run.

Try scorers for Oke: Joe (2), Jacob and Aedan.

Teignmouth U9s 5 tries

Okehampton U9s 9 tries

AT the start Okehampton, who were captained by Saul, soon scored six tries to Teignmouth's one — one of which was a superb run from one end of the pitch to the other.

Saul and Josh worked well together while Josh, together with Ben, tackled well from the outset and throughout the match. A strong defence was shown by all the Oke team.

The next stage saw improved passing using all the players across the pitch. Archie covered the ground but was brought to a quick stop.

The second half was captained by Will and the team showed a quicker and stronger pace. The passing improved and this enabled Shea to score the first of his two tries.

Callum passed to Adam for a quick try for Oke and while Lachs did all the hard work, he was tackled and made the perfect pass to Adam for another try to take his count to four. Josh added a further try.

The final quarter saw Will and Alex working together to pull the opposition into touch and Will passing to Saul for one of his three tries. Dan got stuck in today and pushed his way through for his try. Toby took advantage of gaps and his quick footwork saw him dodge and weave through for the final try of the match.

Teignmouth U8s 23

Okehampton U8s 32

OKEHAMPTON boys travelled to Teignmouth to build on the work from last year and did not let their coaches down with great support play and quicker passing out of the tag leading to some great tries.

After a slow start the boys soon got into the game putting pressure on the Teignmouth attack leading to dropped balls and forward passes which were pounced on and shipped on to score some good tries. Oke tries scored by Grady (9), Freddie (4), Oliver (4), Cain (3), Thomas-Jake, Tyler, Harry (3), Max B (2), Max J (3) and Callum K (2).

Teignmouth U7s 16 tries

Okehampton U7s 14 tries

OKEHAMPTON travelled to the seaside trying to carry on the good work they put in before Christmas, but had a slow start letting Teignmouth get a big lead.

The team had a remarkable turnaround in attitude, pressing harder and scoring some individual tries: Roman (5), Jacob (4), Ciaran (2), Ellie, Amy, and Zara, helped by some good support play by Lily and Rocco.