Bideford U15s 37

Okehampton U15s 20

OKEHAMPTON U15s travelled to the north coast as Bideford were unable to come to Oaklands.

Thanks to a frighteningly long injury list th Oke side had just 14 players, including three from the U14s. Despite this, the team played really well, with much heart and spirit, against a strong Bideford team that always provides a challenging match.

Oke tries came from George Dickinson, who grabbed a brace, U14s Dan Tomkins and a first score of the season for forward Ollie Browne. The younger players performed particularly valiantly and the game also saw the welcome return of Will Risdon to the side.

Okehampton U15s 50

Exeter Youth 15

OKEHAMPTON U15s took on an Exeter Youth side made up of players from Exeter and Exmouth, which despite the score line acquitted themselves extremely well in a fast flowing, exciting game. The first score came within just a few minutes from Tom Stevens with a strong run from a tap and go penalty move.

Oke’s next two scores were carbon copies of each other, with Ewan Northcott linking with Noah Cracknell out on the left wing, allowing Noah to run in the first two of his five try haul. With a 17 point lead after just ten minutes, Oke took their eye off the ball, literally, allowing Exeter to take control of a scrum to produce a classic pick and go try.

The visitors attacked immediately after the restart, but Okehampton turned over the ball, and got deep into Exeter territory. The Oke forwards played extremely well, and a superb run from second row Kallum Dennett saw him ground the ball, only to be denied for an infringement.

Okehampton scored, however, after winning the next scrum and getting the ball to George Dickinson who powered through to make it 22-5.

Exeter continued to press, but some epic tackling from Brad Simmons, Ollie Browne and especially Ethan Baker, kept the visitors at bay.

The whole pack exerted their authority in the scrum, and after winning the next one against the head the ball reached Noah, who used his strength to evade tackles and score.

Exeter came back at Oke but the team continued to defend and ruck well, and just before the break some speedy recycling at the breakdown saw Noah receive the ball and score.

The second half was a bit scrappier, and Oke lost their shape allowing Exeter to find some rhythm and they began to put together some good phases over play, from which they were rewarded with another try. Okehampton’s next score was courtesy of captain Daichi Budiman with a drive over the line. Oke settled down and looked to be back in command, but some decidedly weak tackling allowed Exeter to break through for a try against the run of play. However Oke found enough in the tank for one last assault on Exeter’s line, which resulted in another try for Noah.

Crediton U14s 0

Tavistock U14s 36

CREDITON were fierce and pumped up but Tavistock shrugged off their normal slow start and  started well matching the heavy home pack ruck for ruck.

Tavistock flankers Tom Scott, Noah Berridge and Matt Davey gave Crediton no clean possession and  the pressure told after four minutes when scrum half Dan Pett span the ball out to the backs from a scrum; two passes later outside centre Sam Essex opened the scoring just wide of the posts. Harry Edwards converted.

The battle raged for another ten hard fought minutes with James Roisseter bossing the lineouts and Ben Mckenzie stealing scrum ball against the head. Tom Scott was stopped inches short of the line after some patient ruck work and Sam Essex returned the favour to put his inside centre Edward Tait through for Tavistock’s second. Harry Edwards just missed the conversion from the touchline.

Crediton worked hard and pushed Tavistock with an attempt being held up by some determined Tavistock defence and a scrum turnover by Ben Mckenzie allowed the visitors to clear the pressure.

From a reduced lineout ten metres out Tavistock to put the ball through the hands again and number eight and captain Harry Richardson barrelled through to put winger Noah McDermott, who reached out with ball in one hand to score on the stroke of half time.

Playing down the slope in the second half Tavistock spend most of the half in the Crediton end. Once again the pressure told and lock Harry Law  was put through to drag a couple of defenders over the  line under the posts. Tavistock’s fifth came when Harry Richardson claimed an overthrown Crediton  lineout ball and drove through to score.

Charlie Meakin and Jaxom Cann worked tirelessly in the front row to support the ball with Harry Edwards mopping up at full back when Crediton broke and Luke Edwards marshalling the game efficiently with his distribution at fly half.  Harry Edwards rounded off the scoring by putting a great garyowen up for winger Louis Peake to chase, catch and streak off to score under the posts. Two conversions from Harry Edwards and one from Edward Tait completed the scoring.

Okehampton U13s 35

Bideford U13s 5

OKEHAMPTON found winning ways in their second league outing of the season.

A greater willingness to pass along the line meant gaps in the Bideford defence were found and punished with Theo scoring five tries.

The forwards were strong in the scrum and rucks although close handling issues limited the overall effectiveness of this advantage as the team got near to the try line. Tackling was good and the flankers led the way with Angus in particular. The half back pairing, Ed and Oliver, is solid and there was both accuracy and variety in their play.

The speed of the Oke backs is clear to see and there are obvious improvements in how the team is beginning to utilise this speed; Will and Ollie took advantage when the ball made their hands.

Bideford gained a consolation try late on but this was Okehampton’s day. 

Okehampton U12s 25

Bideford U12s 65

THERE was a great turnout for the first match of the season against Bideford at home. Bideford came with ten players so thanks to Harry, Luca G Sam P and Seth, who all swapped shirts and played for Bideford at various times during the match. Okehampton started off well with some fine tackling especially from Matt and Alex. There was also some great tackling during the match from Yoan, Morgan, Sam and player of the match Tom. Elliott was on fine form for Oke with some excellent supportive play and great forward running. Likewise Ethan and Jacob showed some excellent pace which resulted in scores on the board.

During the game some large gaps in the Oke lines enabled Bideford to pass the ball wide and often resulted in them scoring a number of tries.

There was good rucking demonstrated by Isaac, Seth and Aedan for Oke, with some excellent supportive play from Harry, Josh and Tyler.

Oke tries scored by Ethan Jacob and Elliott.

Tavistock  U11s 25

Crediton U11s 20 

THIS was a much more focussed Tavistock team. 

Matthew got the home team off to a great start with an early try. The visitors tried to respond soon afterwards but were denied by a forward pass. Some great attacking play from Crediton broke through the Tavistock defence to level.

New to the Tavistock team, Mack provided some impressive driving play which landed his team their second try. Dylan, Callum, Luke and Eddie kept up the tackling pressure and Matthew broke free for a streaking run down the wing for another try.

The second half brought almost a complete change of personnel for Tavistock, who boast a much bigger squad this season. Tavistock’s rucking was much improved, with Ben in particular giving an exemplary performance both in the rucks and in the tackle. James got the home team off the mark in the second half with a well deserved try.

The visitors fought back with two more of their own. Barney R showed some great commitment this half, getting possession back for Tavistock on a number of occasions and finally being rewarded with a try .

Tavistock  U11s 30

Crediton U11s 30 

THE second match saw a similar line up with Matthew, Max, Callum and Chris all scoring in the first half, with the visitors touching down twice.

In the second half the fortunes were reversed with Crediton being the more dominant force.  Ben and Mack scored for Tavistock.

In the end these two well matched teams drew.

Okehampton U9s 9 tries

Bideford U9s 17 tries

IN Okehampton U9s first ever contact match of the season the team did well against a strong Bideford side.

Conlaed, Lucy and Seb did some strong tackling and lined up the first try by Phoebe. There were some great runs by Oke but they just could not get past the tight Bideford side, who took the lead.

In the second game the young Okes put more pressure on Bideford with a quick try from Hector that had been set up by Roman.

As the game progressed Oke were beginning to work better as a team, they tried hard to bring Bideford down but the visitors were well drilled and quick to score.

In the final few minutes Oke pushed hard to score another two tries from  Roman and Lucy. Overall it was a good match. Oke tries scored by Phoebe (2) Hector (5), Roman and Lucy.

Tavistock U9s 7 tries

Crediton U9s 4 tries

THIS was a superb attacking game of rugby with every player throwing themselves into the tackles.

There was some great passing between the team, with Edward, James and George P for Tavistock making some good breaks through the Crediton defensive line.

Tavistock made some superb tackles in this game, with Alastair, James and Edward playing well. Their hard work forced a turnover to Tavistock and Alastair took advantage to race through to score the first of his three tries in the game.

Crediton came back at them before Lewis made a great run through onto a pass from Edward to score.

In the second half Charlie made some impressive drives through Crediton’s defence. Lex was right on her shoulder to score. Some great running from Edward saw him score two tries and also force a second turnover from the Crediton ball.

Tavistock U9s 5 tries

Crediton U9s 5 tries

THERE was some lovely running rugby from Tavistock with some outstanding tackles. Gabriel really shone with his fearless tackling and good breaks through the Crediton defence.

Joe, Nathan, George M and Austin worked well together and put in some lovely passes. William TY was strong in defence. 

On several occasions Nathan snatched up a loose ball and ran the full length of the pitch. He was rewarded with a hat-trick of tries for his efforts. William R made some lovely runs on his debut for Tavistock and scored two tries.

Tavistock U9s 6 tries

Crediton U9s 6 tries

SUPER tackling and excellent teamwork was shown by Tavistock. Some lovely running from Jack saw him score a hat-trick of tries. He and William A worked well together with some lovely pop passes. There was some good tackling from Michael, who was fearless as he took down player after player.

Dominic and Matthew were strong in defence, making some lovely straight runs through, alongside Max who also made some brave tackles. William A scored three tries, while Ernie came close with some lovely running rugby.