Okehampton U15s 38

Exeter Saracens U15s 17

OKEHAMPTON made hard work of this match, perhaps with one eye on next week's Devon plate final.

On a baked hard playing surface, in beautiful sunshine, the visitors came out fast and Oke missed plenty of early tackles. This allowed Saracens to apply early pressure but they still fell behind after 15 minutes. George Ogbourne gobbled up an opposition lineout five yards out and forced his way over to give Oke a 5-0 lead.

Saracens responded and with Oke still looking lethargic in defence, their left winger crossed in the corner after Oke failed to secure loose bouncing ball in their own 22.

Things got worse for the hosts as the visitors scored again before the break from a five yard scrum. This left Oke trailing 12-5 at the interval and with the slope against them in the second period.

Gradually Oke began to find their feet and dominated much of the remainder of the match. They levelled things up with a Greg Daniel try after the number eight charged over from a quick tap penalty; Ben Mckenna-Smith converting.

The match then saw Harry Cole, the ever improving back, take centre stage with an imperious display in attack and defence. Showing great pace and an elusive step he ran in from halfway for the first of what was to be a second half hat-trick of tries. The second was even better as he cut a great line through midfield and eventually ran around the cover. The third came shortly afterwards, and with Ben Mckenna-Smith converting two, Oke were now well clear.

Saracens did briefly rally in the middle of the Oke onslaught for a fine score of their own, but were now tiring as the game reached its conclusion.

There was still time for another Oke score and this time great support from Joseph Stratton saw the number ten carry on a fine move and put winger Ben Mckenna-Smith over in the corner to seal the match.

On Sunday Oke play in the plate final at Barnstaple, kick-off 1pm — all support would be gratefully received.

OKEHAMPTON U14s took part in the annual Sevens Tournament, held at Plymstock in glorious, warm sunshine.

Drawn against local rivals Tavistock and also Bideford in the pool round, Oke got off to a good start with a 31-12 win against the former. The next game against Bideford saw Oke take an early lead, but Bideford used their pacy runners to score three tries on the trot.

The second half saw Oke come back strongly with two well-worked tries that gave them the lead, but with only a few minutes left some weak tackles let Bideford in to grab victory 26-19.

Runners-up from the pool rounds played for the plate, and Oke faced Newton Abbot in one of the quarter finals. A superb performance from all the players saw them progress to the semi finals with a 36-5 win.

As Oke kicked off the semi, it was clear to see that opponents Paignton were hungrier for the win and scored a quick try. Oke managed to equalise, but they were definitely misfiring and Paignton scored again. A brilliant try from Oke got them back in the game, but Paignton's superiority in the scrum allowed them to take the lead again. A great interception and score from Oke took them to within three points, but time ran out and Paignton claimed their place in the final. Congratulations and praise to all the boys for playing so well in the warm, testing conditions and for coming so close.

Okehampton squad: Tom Arthurs, Daichi Budiman, Noah Cracknell, George Dickinson, George Harding, Kai Middleton, Brad Simmons, Tom Stevens, Nathan Tomkins, Daniel Turney and Tom Whitmarsh.

Tavistock U13s 37

Crediton U13s 5

HAVING regrouped after the disappointment of crashing out of the U13s plate semi-final the week before Tavistock entertained Crediton at home in warm spring sun.

The game started with a fire in Tavistock's belly and a try after 40 seconds for winger Owen Staples after a strong kick off return, a couple of quick rucks and a deft pass by Luke Edwards at fly half to put Staples clear in the corner. Unfortunately Tavistock had a bit of a nap after this and Crediton put their own speedy winger through after some missed tackles in midfield to make it 5-5. This was the wake up for Tavistock and Jaxom Cann made great use of his strength to power through from 10 metres out after 10 minutes. Tavistock pinned Crediton back and Harry Edwards scored under the posts after scooping up a ruck turnover on the touchline. Converting his own try put the score at 17-5 at half time.

Using the slight breeze to advantage Tavistock played the second half in Crediton territory and James White was rewarded for the sterling forwards breakdown work with a pick and go try five minutes in. Owen Staples scored a second after some simple through the hands ball from the Tavistock backs. Not to be outdone the forwards provided the final two tries with Noah Berridge being rewarded for some persistent running and pressure on the Crediton possession; likewise James Roisetter scored in the last minute benefitting from a five metre penalty being moved through the hand rather than direct running, James had been thwarted several times on previous occasions by last minute try saving tackles from the Crediton back three. Solid defence from Edward Tait at full back and Harry Edwards in midfield snuffed out the Crediton forays into Tavistock territory. Joint man of the match was awarded to Tavistock's Jaxom Cann and Owen Staples.

Tavistock U13s 12

Ivybridge U13s 7

TAVISTOCK hosted their last home game of the season and repeated the scoreline of the first game of the season against the same opposition.

Both teams were adamant they would not budge an inch  at the breakdown and every scrap of possession was fiercely contested with Ben Mckenzie stealing Ivybridge's scrum ball and James Roisetter doing similar at lineouts.

Tavistock flankers Noah Berridge, Matt Davey and Tom Scott created ruck turnovers and pressure on the Ivybridge possession; after five minutes Harry Richardson pounced on a loose ruck ball and powered his way through several tackles from the halfway line to score under the posts. Harry Edwards converted.

Ivybridge rallied and piled on the pressure. They spent the rest of the half attempting to pierce the solid line of defence. Tavistock's backs worked a strong drift defence to thwart the majority of the wide attacks until the stroke of halftime when the swift Ivybridge winger rounded the defence to make it 7-7 at half time. 

The second half saw Tavistock turn the tables and push hard with half backs Tom Persse and Luke Edwards controlling the attacks with backs and forwards battering at the resolute Ivybridge defence alike. Jaxom Cann and Charlie Meakin made strong runs from  the pack and wingers Dan Pett and Noah McDermott getting plenty of ball  to stretch the Ivybridge backs.

Eventually the Tavistock pressure paid off and full back Harry Edwards caught a clearance kick, sidestepped through  the advancing charge, offloaded to Owen Staples who put the gas on to score what was to be the winning try. Edward Tait was player of the match for his intense tackling at centre.

This was a tight game played by two sides intent on playing with ball in hand and a great finish to the regular season.

Okehampton U13s 43

South Molton U13s 5

ON a beautiful sunny day Okehampton welcomed a round robin against South Molton and a touring team from Droitwich.  With hard ground under foot, it was a great day for running rugby and five minutes in this was borne out when a quick lineout saw the ball fed out across the backs to Olly Northcott on the wing to open the scoring.  South Molton came back on the attack to be met with a charge down and break by Joshua McCulloch, creating room out wide for Olly Northcott to touchdown for his second try. 

Despite staunch defence from South Molton, great handling from Okehampton set Olly Northcott blistering down the wing to complete his hat-trick, in his best game of the season. 

Minutes later, with half time looming, from the ruck Daniel Tomkins picked up a great ball on the bounce, running through the middle to score. 

South Molton came out determined in the second half and with the strength of their forwards they crossed the line after ten minutes.  Okehampton were quick to reply, with a break from Joshua Burgoyne fed to Barnaby Waddell to score under the posts. 

Okehampton rounded off the game with two further tries, with Daniel Tomkins running crossfield and down the wing to score his second, and a break from Barnaby Waddell setting up Will Cunningham just before the final whistle.  Conversions:  Joshua Burgoyne (2), Daniel Wonnacott (2).

Okehampton U13s 12

Droitwich U13s 5

OKEHAMPTON were slow to get going against a physically strong and determined Droitwich side, but opened the scoring with a try from Barnaby Waddell. 

The game remained fairly even, with both sides having opportunities, whilst ferociously defending their line.  Okehampton claimed victory in the last few minutes of the game, with Greg Haste steaming down the wing, cutting back inside to cross the line.  Conversion: Joshua Burgoyne (1). It was a great day of rugby with the young Okes playing the conditions well, in a great display of running rugby.

MUCH like the weather, Tavistock U10s made a bright and breezy start to this end of season finale at the Devon Rugby Festival. Twenty nine teams from across the county  met at Exeter Saracens and Tavistock were drawn against South Molton, Bideford and Devonport Services in the initial group stages.

Against South Molton Tavistock started confidently, with Luke unlucky to be tackled just short of the line after a lung bursting break down the wing.  Eddie quickly took up the challenge with a really determined run through the opposition to score. Individually the Tavistock team were playing well and starting to link some passes together, and the defensive work was enough to snuff out any South Molton attacks.  Matthew D was quickest to react to a loose ball in the midfield and ran on to score Tavistock's second try.  Eddie added a third with a run that took him from one side of the pitch to the other and then over in the corner for the third and final try of the game.

Tavistock then faced up to Bideford, who were strong in the tackle. Tavistock took the ball into contact and lost out to some efficient ripping and rucking.  The teams were evenly matched with Tavistock also managing to defend effectively. Eventually however, the deadlock was broken as Bideford slipped a tackle to run in a first try.  Tavistock's hard work was being undone by the ease with which the gave up the ball in the tackle.  Bideford scored a second try to secure a hard fought 10-0 win.

Barely stopping to catch their breath, Tavistock were straight into action against Devonport Services.  Tavistock knew they were coming up against a well oiled rugby machine.  So it proved as their powerful running and quick thinking at the breakdown simply overwhelmed Tavistock.

Tavistock were quickly behind, and could not break through.  Credit to the boys, though, they kept their heads up, kept tackling and putting in the hard yards.  However, it was to no avail as Devonport increased their lead several times over and the game finished with a convincing 30-0 win for Devonport.

 OKEHAMPTON RFC U10s were one of 29 teams who took part in the Devon U10s Festival held at Exeter Saracens.

The boys all played in a qualifying pool. Results were Okehampton 25 Barbarians 0; Okehampton 5 Torquay 10; Okehampton 35 Sarries Black 0. They qualified for the Devon Plate and won 10-5 against Barnstaple in the semi final.

The final was a tense match against Topsham, both teams were level 5-5 at full time. In the dying seconds of extra time Topsham managed to score and won the match and plate.

Well done to captain Adam, Lachs, Shea, Callum, Ben, Josh, Saul, Toby, Will, Shortie, Alex, and Ed who played very well and did ORFC proud.

ON a bright sunny day Okehampton travelled to Devonport on Sunday for the Devon U9s rugby festival. Okehampton were pooled in with Exeter Saracens and Ivybridge.

Their first game started well with four quick tries in the first half but then they sat back and Exeter Saracens came back, although Oke held on to win 5-2. Against Ivybridge, who they have had some good games with during the season, the South Devon side came out fast and shocked Oke with a great rush defence and good attacking lines which put the boys on the back foot and Oke had no answer to losing by four tries to nil. It put them in the plate against Newton Abbot. This was a close game with tries being scored by each team at regular intervals but in the end Oke popped in the corner with the last play of the game to win 5-4.

In the semi final against Cullompton, who they had never played before, Oke played their best rugby of the day with some great tackles and strong running to score 7-2.

In the final against Exeter Chiefs both sides played good rugby and scored good tries. As the game came into the last couple of minutes Oke pushed hard and Grady looped around the Chiefs' defence to score in the corner. Back came Chiefs who pushed hard but eventually could not break down a strong defensive line lead by Oliver and so Okehampton won 6-5.

Okehampton: Cain, Grady, Jack W, Jack T, Oliver, Harry, Max B, Cameron and Billy, Matthew.