Tavistock U16s 52

Crediton U16s 0

TAVISTOCK gave their supporters an early Christmas present with a fine display of running rugby. The opening score came early in the first half after the pacey second row Cameron McKie busted through from the 22 metre line. George Hillson converted.

This was shortly followed by a backs move which saw Billy McNicol come into the line from the left wing, making space for Sean Donnelly on the right wing to charge over for Tavistock's second. George Hillson added another neat conversion.

Crediton battled their way back with their bulky ball carriers making inroads. However, excellent tackling from Chris Watts at fly half and turnovers won by Ben Milligan and Steve Kirby helped keep them at bay. Securing frequent turnovers helped Tavistock get in behind the Crediton defensive line and one of these attacks brought Tavistock into the Crediton 22 and a well timed run from Ethan Lamerton was spotted by Ben Milligan who timed his pass perfectly to put him in for their third score. The half was brought to a close by a fine individual score from fullback Bernie Sadler, who ran back a kick he fielded himself, outpacing and side stepping the opposition to score in the left hand corner.

In the second half Tavistock used the slope of the pitch to their advantage with George Hillson, Chris Watts and Ben Milligan all kicking cleverly. More good passing from forwards Scott Morris and George Murrain created space for Ethan Lamerton to add his second in the left hand corner, which Hillson converted.

Crediton again tried to muscle their way back into the game and were unlucky to get turned over on the Tavistock line. The quick thinking George Hillson needed no second invitation and raced clear from behind his own posts. He fed Ben Milligan who put in a clever kick, which Hillson gathered to pop to Ethan Lamerton who finished a length of the pitch to score. Hillson again converted. This knocked the wind out of Crediton and Tavistock moved the ball freely for the rest of the match with Will Gardener, Theo Cousins and Ben Luke all making telling drives. Further tries came from Ben Milligan and Billy McNicol; George Hillson brought proceedings to a close with a superb conversion from near to the touchline.

Tavistock U14s 7

Devonport Services

U14s 20

THIS was a tight game. Two quick tries from Devonport were both unconverted but Tavistock fought back with a try from Joe Burbage which was converted by Zac Gorton.

It was 10-7 to Services at half time but unfortunately for the home side injury hit the Tavistock number eight, Pete Bull. Devonport got the upper hand with two more tries in the second half that saw them claim victory.

Paignton U14s 15

Tavistock U14s 54

THIS was a comfortable win for Tavistock in a feisty and tetchy game. The tries from Tavistock came from Toby Teague, Olly Noy Scott, Connor Baker, Peter Bull and Zac Gorton. James Paxman for Tavistock had a great game after returning from a long term injury.

Tavistock U14s 5

Launceston U14s 17

TWO evenly matched teams met in a close contest. Tavistock gave away an early seven points due to complacency in the opening minutes.

Launceston's speed in their backs and at the breakdown meant that Tavistock did not get much time on the ball, and this initial blitz attack from Launceston meant they scored a second unconverted try.

Tavistock did not drop their heads and Jude White at full back took the ball 40 yards up the field. It was then solid forward work by Olly Noy Scott, Peter Bull and Jack Smyly who secured the ball over a number of phases; Tom Pearson passed to Jon Lord to run in the last 10 yards over the try line.

With the score at 12-5 to the visitors at half time Tavistock started to get on top of the game having the wind behind them in the second half.

Tiredness forced mistakes from both teams and although Tavistock came close on a number of occasions, it was Launceston who scored a final try in the last minute of the game. This extremely close and competitive game was played in the just the right spirit with both teams proud of their efforts.

Teignmouth U13s 12

Tavistock U13s 26

A WET and windy day did not help their handling but Tavistock made it hard for themselves against a a set of sharp Teignmouth backs. Jaxom Cann injected some forward go only to be held up over the line by some determined defence; however, Harry Richardson powered through from the resulting five metre scrum to open the scoring with Harry Edwards converting. Teignmouth returned fire with a 5m penalty score followed by a scorching run through some weak tackles to make it 12-7 to the home team at half time.

Tavistock looked strong in the set piece but ragged in the loose.

The second half saw Tavistock playing  down the slope and took control four minutes in; after some concentrated forwards work Matt Davey sniped a quick ball from a ruck and dived over for Harry Edwards to convert under the posts.

Two tries for Henry Varndell-Dawes sealed the game for Tavistock — the first a quick 5m penalty and a dive for the line, followed by an interception in the Tavistock 22 and a sprint for the try line.

The half was marked by much stronger ruck and maul work from the likes of Ollie Sampson and Sam Essex with hookers Ben Mckenzie and Sennen Bench working hard in the set pieces to secure possession and James Roisseter using his height well in the lineouts well.

Backs Noah McDermott,  Edward Tait and Owen Staples tackled hard out wide to stifle the well drilled passing of the Teignmouth backs who looked dangerous  throughout and pushed Tavistock hard but Tavistock held firm for a second half clean sheet.

Launceston U10s 0

Okehampton U10s 50

OKEHAMPTON, captained by Lachs, started well and were quick off the blocks from the outset, with Shea really comfortable in his position of scrum half.

There was a lot of good passing and one move from Lachs to Adam to Shortie and back to Adam resulted in one of his two tries. Callum, Toby and Lachs were the strong forwards taking scare of the scrums. The boys are finding their confidence and are becoming a lot stronger and more determined in their play, mostly working as a team.

An example of this were Shea and Adam jointly taking a Launceston lad into touch. Ben came on and made his presence felt with his strong tackles. Saul used his normal ducking and diving technique to score two tries in this half. Shortie took a great catch and went on to score.

The second half saw Ed charging through the pack on many occasions and passing to Alex who made several good passes - helping Adam to battle through to score one of his two tries in the half.

Will made a sterling run close to the touchline but was tackled into touch; however, he made sure he got it right next time and scored. Ed made some long striding runs before being caught. Saul also made some great runs and scored two tries.

Saltash U10s 5

Okehampton U10s 50

SALTASH were also at Launceston and Oke's Adam took the first try with many of the Saltash pack chasing him.

Play started again and Will performed a superb tap tackle of a nippy Saltash player to bring him down. Adam took advantage of a loose ball and a gap and nipped through for an easy try.

Toby worked well in the centre of the pitch and offloaded to Saul for the first of his two tries.

Oke defended well with Callum working well in the rucks. Oke scored again when Adam passed to Callum and on to Lachs for his strong finish with a try. Callum added another.

The second half saw Saul put in a lot of work and Callum was rewarded with the try; the latter then scored another. However, Saltash kept the pressure on until they were rewarded with a try.

Further tries came from Adam while Saul scored three in this game.

Exeter Chiefs U9s 7 tries

Okehampton U9s 9 tries

OKEHAMPTON travelled to Exeter's new ground at Oil Mill Lane and found a wet but flat pitch which was a little on the small side from what they were used to but adapted to it well. In the first quarter the Blues started well with some good defence pushing Exeter back.

Oliver for Oke was playing well with some good runs and work in the loose. At the end of the quarter Billy popped up to score in the corner.

The second quarter started well from the off with Grady taking the ball from the start and run to score in the corner. A great run through the middle by Jack W nearly led to a try but for  a little knock on.

The third quarter was fast and furious with both sides scoring some good tries with good work from Cameron, Harry, the two Maxes and Matthew who scored in the corner.

With the Exeter boys tiring Oke pushed on with some good passing out of  the tackle to score some good tries. Tries by Grady (5), Billy (2), Harry and Matthew.