Exmouth U15s 14

Tavistock U15s 43

TWO early tries from the outside centre Josh Davies put Tavistock in a strong position from the start but some good counter rucking by Exmouth meant the rest of the second half was evenly played out.

John Lord, Jake Holberg, Tom MacKensie and Archie Howell Andrews played important roles in the scrum and line outs for the visitors. Another try from Josh early in the second half could have seen the flood gates open up but an immediate reply from Exmouth caused the Tavistock team to rethink and regroup.

Archie Allen came off the bench and Tavistock improved their rucking. Toby Teague scored a great forwards’ try after switching to the number eight role. It was then that Tavistock started to hit their stride, with Robin Bickleigh breaking through the centre of the field to score his first try for the team. A well worked move gave Josh his fourth try after quick passing down the line from Tom Pearson, Luke Lewandowski, Zac Gorton, James Paxman and Jack Smyly. 

Immediately after the restart came the try of the game with Olly Noy- Scott collecting the ball, slipping through two tackles then passing to Robin, who sped down the wing and then offloaded to Connor Baker who managed to return it back to Robin. Robin nearly reached the try line before being tackled but his pop pass to Archie Allen, who had run the pitch in support, allowed Archie to dive over the line to finish. It was great team try and a strong win for Tavistock. They are now gearing themselves up for the second round of the Devon cup competition against Barnstaple in the next few weeks.

Crediton U14s 22

Tavistock U14s 46

TAVISTOCK earned a strong win over Crediton. Tries from Josh Davies, Toby Teague, Tom Pearson and a wonderful chip and run by Jude White to score, put the visitors in a comfortable position at half time at 27-3 up.

In the second half, Tavistock lost concentration and they allowed Crediton to get a foot hold on the game; each side exchanged tries and both teams scored three tries each.  For Tavistock, it was great work from Ollie Noy-Scott, to break away from the maul and score. Second tries, from Josh Davies and Tom Pearson, maintained the status quo. As ever, great work in the scrum from Peter Bull, Archie Allen and Jason Blake, kept Tavistock in the game while Luke Lewandowski and Zac Gorton marshalled the back line effectively. Tavistock captain John Lord gained plenty of yards with some decisive runs during the game and newcomers to the team this season, Archie Howell-Andrews, Josh Davies and Lawrence Stewart have really strengthened the group, putting in great performances and slotting in perfectly.

Okehampton U14s 34

Crediton U14s 0

OKEHAMPTON took control of the game from the off.  Five minutes in, with the lion’s share of possession, Okehampton’s backs and forwards linked well to create a gap for Daniel Tomkins to score.  This was followed minutes later, when a quick ball from the scrum was fed out to James Close, whose delayed pass caught the Crediton defence out, to put Greg Haste over the line. 

Oke’s forwards put in an excellent performance, executing set piece play well, showing more aggression in the ruck and providing great ball for the backs to work with — the reward came after 20 minutes, with a try by Olly Northcott. 

The beginning of the second half saw Crediton with more ball, but denied any points by determined Oke defence.  Okehampton regained the upper hand, with great ball handling, seeing Daniel Tomkins running a good line, before passing out cross field to Saul Holliday to score.  Keeping up the pressure, Barnaby Waddell picked up quick ruck ball to add a fifth try.  As the game came to a close, an interception by Joshua Burgoyne was offloaded to Daniel Tomkins to score between the posts, for his second try.  New players Jeronimo Quincke and Archie Brown both acquitted themselves well around the pitch in their first match.  James Close converted twice.

The whole squad stepped up to the mark and deserve a mention, in what was a great display of commitment and teamwork. 

Okehampton U12s 2 tries

Crediton U12s 3 tries

OKEHAMPTON U12s showed true grit and stolid determination during every second of a tough game against Crediton.

From the kick-off, Sam P, Marcus, Ethan, Aedan and Cameron made some great tackles for Oke and Seth took off on a good forward run. The passing this week was markedly improved, with a cool combination from Marcus, Alex, Ethan and Cameron early in the game. They followed up with more smooth passes out of a scrum in the second quarter — from Ethan to Morgan, Aedan and Marcus. This allowed Ethan to run the ball ahead to set up Okehampton’s first try, scored by Aedan. A strong kick from Crediton’s fly-half was just a little too quick for a heroic Matt who did his utmost to receive but was bundled into touch and unluckily injured.

In the third quarter, more great tackling came from Tom M, Sam P, Ethan, Elliot and Marcus and there was skilful rucking from Isaac and Alex once again, enabling Alfie to make good headway into Crediton’s half.

Okehampton delighted spectators with more superb passes from Aedan, Morgan and Ethan, who later took a good run out of the scrum to the try line, putting Oke in the lead.

Oke defied Crediton with some fearless tackling and one from Sam P was particularly spectacular. Newcomers, Luca, Tyler and Sam S, all gained some valuable experience entering the game with full enthusiasm to support their team-mates, despite fierce charges from Crediton. Okehampton’s tenacity and slick teamwork made them tough to beat.

Okehampton U11s 55

Crediton U11s 30

THERE was a good hometeam turnout for Okehampton U11’s first proper fixture of the season, with the team captained by Shea. A maul, followed by a scrum saw Crediton into touch. Play restarted as Will for Oke kicked the ball, Saul chased and charged on through for a try.

Crediton fought back and, with the tryline in sight, were taken into touch by Will. There were plenty of rucks, scrums and mauls throughout the game with Toby in the thick of the rucks and playing his part. Crediton kicked a long ball, picked up by Adam who made a sterling run but his pass was dropped. There were a few handling errors today by Oke but this should improve.

Ben passed to Shortie, who was taken into touch. The ball soon found its way back to Shortie with a good catch, but he was brought down. Oke kept drilling at Crediton’s strong defence, chipping their way through. With play getting towards the tryline Will held up the ball enough to prevent a try. Alex was putting in some impressive tackles and Dan threw himself into the rucks. Crediton spent a lot of play close to touch and constant pressure often forced them out. A near try was stopped by Lachs. Callum, in a maul, ripped the ball out and passed to Saul to score. Shea was constant with his quick chase down from the scrums. Another held up ball by Callum saw the forwards pushing through for a try for Lachs.

The final phase of play saw Josh putting in some big tackles. The Oke boys seemed to slow as Crediton scored five tries against them in quick succession. Harrison played his first match today with support play from Jacob, Chris and Archie. Crediton put up a good game.

Oke tries: Saul (5), Lachs (2), Ed, Will, Callum and Shea.

Tavistock U11s

Bideford U11s

OVERCAST, dry and perfect conditions welcomed Bideford for this contest. It was the visitors that were sharper out of the blocks.

Tavistock to their credit defended well against a larger built team who were difficult to get to ground and ironically, despite holding out and regaining the ball a defensive error led to the first score going to Bideford.

From the restart it appeared that Tavistock had regained their composure and there were periods when they had an attacking line and looked as though they were going to create openings. Unfortunately Bideford were too strong and scored three more unanswered tries.

Tavistock were lacklustre at the start of the second half. Bideford created more space with time to pass. Then the sun came out and the home team came alive. They began to pass the ball along the line and Bideford were caught unawares. It was far more positive and inevitably led to a score for Dylan after some incisive play from Mack and Sam.

Tavistock were unlucky to have another score disallowed shortly afterwards. Although Bideford added several more scores and deserved the win there were glimpses of good times to come for Tavistock.

Okehampton U9s 9 tries

Crediton U9s 18 tries

CREDITON arrived at Okehampton with a large squad of players. The home side started well, supporting each other with some great tackles made by Roman and James. The first try of the match was set up by Vinny who passed to Lucy to score. Okehampton worked well as a team and woke up as the match progressed with a strong defence and saw some great passing from Amy, Joe and Seb.

The second game saw Okehampton’s limited squad beginning to tire. They tried hard to bring Crediton down with tries from Phoebe and Robbie but the visitors just had the upper hand with more players. This was a much improved match for the U9s. Tries scored by Lucy, James, Phoebe (3), Hector (2), Roman and Robbie.

Tavistock U9s 8 tries

Bideford U9s 6tries

SOME really great tackling and running rugby in this match saw the Tavistock players making good use of their new skills in their first season playing contact rugby.

Lex intercepted a Bideford pass well before popping back to Michael, who ran in the first of his two tries. There was some excellent tackling from Michael too, while Edward and Alastair worked well together with some lovely runs through the Bideford defence. Edward scored two tries and Alastair three.

Tavistock had to make good use of rolling subs in this match as there were 11 players in this side. Daniel, playing his first game for Tavistock, made some outstanding tackles and read the game well. There was some lovely running rugby from George M and Gabriel who were both fearless in their tackling. Dominic and Austin both put in some great runs too. After winning posession Charlie burst through to score a great try right at the end of the game.

Tavistock U9s 7 tries

Bideford U9s 7 tries

THE Tavistock team took a little while  to warm-up in this match letting Bideford in with two early tries, but they tightened up the defence and started to win the ball away from the visitors.

Some lovely running rugby from Jack saw him score two tries and he was also fearless in his tackling.

Nathan, Lewis and Matthew worked well together in defence and helped turn over a lot of Bideford ball. Good tackling came from James and Finlay and solid play from William R. William A used his speed to burst through and score on two occasions, taking advantage of dropped Bideford ball.

William TY was strong in defence and helped turn over the ball again and again on the Bideford tryline. He was rewarded with three tries.

Some great tackling from Joe and William E and support play from Ernie and William S.