Okehampton U16s 62

Devonport U16s 0

THIS was a must win game for Okehampton to

keep any league hopes alive. The young side stepped up and did not

disappoint.

The visiting side was struggling for numbers but with a larger pack they was still a force to be reckoned with.

Okehampton's intentions to get the ball wide worked well with breaks being made right from the start of the game. After going two scores up the home side began to lose their structure and deviate from the game plan. Some constant pressure in defence and some over eagerness for the try line kept the score to four tries to nil at the break.

The second half saw the Okehampton side resume the game plan and become more structured, resulting in some good passages of play and more importantly the scores on the board increasing. The game was won with 10 minutes remaining with credit to Devonport who decided to play on. Okehampton added another two scores which will not count towards the league system. Try scorers were Johnny King, Joe Mawle, Niall Leahy, Daniel Thorne, Jake Lawson and Ryan Brock.    

n Okehampton U16s are away to top of the table Brixham next week.

Devon plate

Okehampton U15s 28

Brixham U15s 0

AN effective performance from the Oke boys saw them comfortably progress to the county plate semi-finals. On a cold morning, Okehampton played up the hill in the first half with a slight wind in their favour. Carrying on from where they left off last week, the hosts made a bright start.

George Ogbourne opened the scoring after a powerful charge that saw him dot down under the posts; Ben Mckenna Smith adding the simple extras.

Oke looked up for the contest and were soon further ahead — this time it was a trademark pick up and go score by number eight Greg Daniel from a five yard scrum. Ben Mckenna -Smith slotted a fine conversion from wide out to make it 14-0 midway through the half.

The home side continued to dominate and added a third score before the break. Jack Ogbourne was terrier like all match, and another turnover possession from the number seven eventually resulted in another attacking scrum. This time it wheeled the wrong way, but Greg Daniel still had enough strength to eventually force his way over the line at the second attempt.

Oke had the slope advantage in the second half as the pitch became stickier by the minute. To Brixham's credit they upped their game, and with Oke's levels dropping slightly the game became more of a contest. In fact the home side only managed one more score in the entire second half — Ben Mckenna-Smith scooped up a loose Brixham pass in midfield and showed the defence a clean pair of heels in a long distance run in. Brixham rallied in the last ten minutes but the home defence held firm to keep a clean sheet as time ran out. This was another competent performance from the Oke boys who now go forward to a home semi-final against Newton Abbot.

A STRONG and lively Tavistock U14s team took to the road on their 'Where's Wally tour 2015'.

After an overnight stop at Bristol they attended the Gloucester versus Northampton Premiership rugby game on a Saturday, to see internationals such as Jonny May, Billy Twelvetrees, Greig Laidlaw and James Hook.

It was an entertaining match and put the team in the right frame of mind for them to take on Dursley RFC U14s the next day. The first half against Dursley was an even affair with Tavistock just edging the play after Freddie Williams flew down the wing when he collected a great pass from Jude White. Dursley quickly scored a try to level the score but Jude went on to score a superb individual try from the full back position.

The large Dursley squad meant they had to swap the team around at half time and this allowed Tavistock plenty of opportunity to press for more points with tries from Joe Burbage, Olly Noy Scott, Zac Gorton Jude and Archie Allen. The pick of the Tavistock tries was a run through the centre of the field by Toby Teague, who timed his pass to perfection for Archie to score under the posts.

Tavistock U14s took the victory and still remain unbeaten on tour.

Okehampton U13s 22

Tavistock U13s 7

THIS was the first year of the Bobby Burgoyne Memorial Cup, a fixture to be played between Okehampton and Tavistock from under 13s through to U16s.

Okehampton came out with a real determination to have their name engraved first on the cup. Oke started strongly and five minutes in saw an interception from the halfway line by Joshua Burgoyne, advancing to Tavistock's 22 yard line, before passing to ever impressive Barnaby Waddell, to open the scoring.  Oke kept the pressure on throughout the first half, creating opportunities, which saw them rewarded from a quick tap and go after 18 minutes, to see James Close cross the line.  This was swiftly followed a few minutes later by a break from Joshua Burgoyne, offloaded to Barnaby Waddell for his second try, to end the first half. 

To their credit, Tavistock did not allow their heads to drop and came out fighting in the second half, equally met with some outstanding, hardworking defence by every Okehampton player. 

Twenty minutes in, a break from Daniel Tomkins, who acquitted himself well in his first outing at inside centre, saw him pass to Barnaby Waddell to steam through the middle for a well deserved hat-trick try, which was converted by Joshua Burgoyne. 

The last five minutes of play saw Tavistock's efforts rewarded after winning the ball from an Okehampton scrum, to cross the line for their own converted try. 

Both teams should be commended on what was a very entertaining game of rugby, much appreciated by the many friends and family spectating. 

The whole Okehampton squad gave their all, with every player deserving a mention, in a team effort that would have made Bobby very proud.

Okehampton U11s 25

Newton Abbot U11s 50

WITH a good start from Okehampton, pressure, attacking, straight in off the whistle it all looked promising. Cameron, Jacob, Luke and Aedan for Oke all were raring to go. Okehampton, though, appeared to tire quickly and a well organised Newton Abbot took advantage. The visitors were strong but Okehampton's strength in tackling paid off.

Isaac, Cameron, Morgan, Ethan and Jacob struck again and again for Oke.

With ruck after ruck Oke gained control with some great team work. The ball was passed to Jacob, who ran down the line to score for Oke.

This was certainly a good game to start in for our newest Oke team member Phillip, who showed willingness and determination. Oke's pressure was first class and dominated a powerful, but slow, Newton Abbot side. With another try from Ethan things were looking good for the home side. Isaac, Cameron, Sam, Ethan, Aedan were on top form with Luke, Sam, Elliot making good passes to Matt, Freddie and Sam.

There was great team play from Luke to Aedan to Ethen to Jacob to score and another well deserved try from Isaac.

Oke had ruled the game but a few slips by them made the difference in the score when they should have won the match.

Tavistock U10s 15

Launceston  U10s 20

BOTH teams had to endure the cold conditions as Launceston started the game. The visitors certainly proved to be more clinical in the opening exchanges and although Tavistock were dogged in defence the first score went to Launceston. There was an immediate response from the restart with Tavistock quickly gaining momentum and Chris levelled the score.

Cold hands resulted in frequent mishandling of the ball and both sides failed to assert any dominance in the game. Launceston were more adept in their attacking moves while Tavistock defended well. There were no more scores in the first half. The second half seemed to continue in the same mould. The defining difference was Tavistock losing their possession of the ball too easily at the breakdown. Launceston had a more fluent attacking line and it was admirable  how Tavistock manged to repel the visitors.

Tavistock players tended to take the direct route of straight ahead whereas Launceston spread the ball across the field. There were two fine tries from Eddy but Launceston added three more, resulting in a narrow win.

Launceston U8s 11 tries

Tavistock U8s 8 tries

THERE was some really good running rugby in from the Tavistock boys who were up against a strong, well drilled Launceston side.

Tavistock regrouped after an early try and started putting some great runs and passes together. There was lovely work between George M, Tom, Ernie and Michael with the ball passed well along the line.

After Launceston won possession, William A  picked up a dropped ball and raced almost the full length of the pitch to score his first of four tries. He and William TY worked particularly well together, with William A running onto the ball well.

Some lovely swerving moves through the Launceston defence from Michael saw him take two tries. Tom showed his great hands to snatch two as well and William A scored four.

Launceston U8s 10 tries

Tavistock U8s 13 tries

THERE was good tagging and passing from the start by Tavistock who kept up the pressure. A great set piece of six passes going along the line through Nathan, Jack, James C and Austin ended with Jack scoring.

After Launceston equalised, the visitors came straight back, with great supporting play from Jack and Matthew, sending Nathan through to score the first of his four tries in the game. It was that supporting play, running onto the ball and passing before they were tagged.

A strong Launceston side, who scored some good tries and were good passers of the ball, added to the game. There was a storming run from Charlie who tagged well along with Austin and James C. Lewis scored one try for Tavistock, Matthew two, Nathan four and Jack six.