Barnstaple U15s 33

Okehampton U15s 12

KNOWING they had a difficult task ahead against the big and physical Barum side in this first round game Okehampton started well, taking the game to their opposition. 

Ten minutes in and against the run of play, Barnstaple made a break through the middle, passing out to their winger to open the scoring.  This was followed minutes later with a great kick wide from Barnstaple, collected well by the winger to score their second.  Okehampton continued to attack and defend with all their might, with Barnaby Waddell, Jack Rutley, James Stevens and Saul Holliday disrupting the forwards, and Greg Haste, Jordan Hill, George Cox and Archie Brown the same with the backs, but were unlucky when Barnstaple scored again just before half time. 

The second half saw a great start from Okehampton, with well executed lineout ball fed out to Greg Haste, who had a strong outing at Number 10, running a lovely line, punching a hole in the Barnstaple defence before passing to Jordan Hill to open the scoring for Oke.

Barnstaple quickly responded with a try of their own, followed ten minutes later with another from a driving maul over the line. Minutes from the end, Joshua Burgoyne dummied well from a ruck to score; he duly converted.

The final score line was deceiving and did not reflect the true picture of the game, with every Okehampton player giving their all, not allowing their heads to drop, despite crucial decisions not going their way.  Oke should be proud of a great performance. 

Launceston U13s 80

Okehampton U13s 10

CREDIT for courage and determination to Oke when every match played seems to be against a mobile wall of larger adversaries.

The Launceston players were no exception within the first minute they scored, but Okehampton refused to be intimidated and the final score is a delusive reflection of their doggedly tenacious defence.

After Launceston’s second try and a good restart kick from Matt, Launceston retained possession, channelling the ball up the pitch despite some savage tackling from Aedan, Sam and Tom; then Nathan effected a brutal rip, Aedan passed to Jacob, who made a hope-raising ten metre run before Launceston scored their third. After Launceston’s sixth, Okehampton won possession, Marcus made a run and Aedan, Cameron, Isaac and Seth skilfully rucked-over, flicked the ball to Jacob who found a gap and stormed down to the line to score. There were try-saving tackles from Matt and Marcus, good driving runs from Cameron and Murray and more good tackles from Alex, Isaac, Luca, Luke, Oli, Oscar, Sam and Tom as Oke held up the pressure.

Some excellent play from Alex, Marcus, Matt, Murray and Oscar kept Oke’s possession from a throw-in, which paved the way to the first try of the second half by Oke’s Jacob) Tom later had a good run and looked like he’d set down another for the Okes, but was tackled on the touchline.

In the final minute, with the ball dangerously close to their line, Oke’s frantic defensive efforts were stubborn, aggressive and effective, as Cameron, Jacob, Marcus, Matt and Tom fought hard to drive the ball forward from its rut of sideways motion.

Some fantastic rucking from these lads paid off as the ball struggled away from the line and made progress up the pitch, then Aedan, Alex, Marcus, Matt and Tom had their last and furious ruck on the touchline as the final whistle blew.

Tavistock U12s 35

Stonehouse Sharks

U12s 20

TAVISTOCK notched up their first win of the season this Sunday. Despite conceding two early tries Tavistock soon found their feet and mounted a comeback.

A great run from James found Luke on the wing, who ran in for Tavistock’s first try. Another almost identical try followed with Jake passing again to Luke for his second.

Newcomer Jake proved a valuable addition to the team with some strong driving play rewarded with a debut try soon after. Some determined tackling from all the boys, but especially James, Sam and Barney, kept the visitors at bay for the rest of the first half. Mack and Max also demonstrating some excellent rucking.

The second half brought more excellent rugby from both sides. Stonehouse made a deft intervention near their try line and taking full advantage with another quick try. Tavistock were not deterred and Jake powered over the line for another try, swiftly followed by Matthew, who took a ball from the half way line down the length of the pitch for Tavistock’s fifth.

Sam was unlucky to drop the ball just short of a try and Luke just missed out just going into touch on the Stonehouse line.

The Sharks fought back with their fourth try but Tavistock sealed victory with Luke and Jake both completing their hat-tricks with one more try apiece.

This was a superb performance from all the boys this week and a well deserved win.

Okehampton U12s 30

Launceston U12s 5

OKEHAMPTON started positively making tracks into Launceston’s half before a tackle caused a spill; the visitors quickly scooped, but a mistimed pass put the ball straight back to Oke again.

The home boys kept the pressure on and a lucky steal by Lachs was quickly passed out to Saul and then back to Lachs for his first try. Launceston successfully drilled back into Okehampton’s half but a quick ball to Saul took the play back to the halfway line; hard work from the forwards and great teamwork from them bought on Lachs second try. Launceston were close to scoring but Oke determinedly held them back.

By the second half, Launceston seemed to have found their form. A cracking tackle from Shortie slowed a would-be runner and although Launceston upped their game, Okehampton more than matched it causing the visitors to panic at times. More hard work led to an Oke try — Saul quickly used his trademark wriggling and ducking to score. Another try swiftly followed by a sprint from one end of the pitch to the other. Launceston did not give up and an effort to score was held up by Lachs and a great interception from Will also stalled the opposition.

This was a great game to watch by two well matched teams, both who have a great teamwork ethic and use it well.

Stonehouse Sharks

U10s 7 tries

Tavistock U10s 8 tries

THIS was a really hard fought close. Tavistock came out strongly with some great tackling and rucking from the start. They stole the ball from Sharks from the kick off and James, Finlay and Nathan put together some lovely passes to get it moving through the field. Gabriel showed a lovely step as he dodged through the Sharks’ defence, popping the ball through to Finlay who kept moving even though he had three of the opposition hanging off him. Finlay was rewarded with the first of two tries in this game after some lovely teamwork from the Tavistock players. After a crunching tackle from Alastair, Matthew won the ball and sent a flying pass through to William A. He drove through the defence with great support from James to send Finlay through to score.

Sharks kept up the pressure but were kept at bay by some lovely tackles from George and Edward. William A showed his strength and power with some great drives through and was rewarded with two tries. Dylan and William S both made some great runs as did James, and were unlucky not to score. Edward and Gabriel defended superbly, with Edward twice blocking Sharks passes to prevent them making ground. Both were rewarded with tries. Some good support play from William TY and William S kept the opposition back but they remained dangerous until Harry scooped up a loose ball and ran almost the full length of the pitch to score. It was tight right to the end with the scores even until Alistair ran through to score Tavistock’s winner.

Okehampton U9s 5 tries

Launceston U9s 3 tries

OKEHAMPTON started brightly with some slick passing unleashing Wilf on a bullocking run through the heart of the Launceston team to score a powerful try.

Launceston hit back immediately but determined Oke tackling on their own line denied the opposition as the ball was ripped free in the tackle and popped up to Rocco who sprinted the length of the pitch for a fine try. A further try from Wilf saw Oke move to 3-0.

Launceston retaliated with two quick tries and looked set to level the score before a brave last ditch tackle from Jacob stopped them inches from the line. Oke finished off the game in style as Ciaran weaved through half the opposition to score before Jacob added an extra try as the final whistle went.

Okehampton U9s 2 tries

Launceston U9s 7 tries

LAUNCESTON took full advantage of some missed tackles and loose passing from Oke who suddenly found themselves four scores down. As the game progressed Oke showed great spirit to fight their way back into it with a brace of fine individual tries from Henry.

Launceston continued to pound the Oke line and only committed tackling from Todd, Mikey and Marla kept the score down.

Okehampton U9s 1 try

Launceston U9s 6 tries

IT was more of the same from a strong Launceston team in the third game as Oke missed early tackles letting Launceston get away to a flying start.

A scintillating solo try from Stanley gave Oke heart and they started throwing themselves into tackles. The game became rather disjointed as the Oke injury count mounted up and despite courageous tackling notably from Jacob, Wilf and Charlie Launceston took their chances well to seal a comprehensive victory.

Okehampton U9s 6 tries

Launceston U9s 5 tries

GAMES four saw Oke roar back in a nail-biting end-to-end match. Ferocious tackling from Marla and Lewis laid down a statement of intent. Strong midfield breaks from Lily and Zara opened up space for Henry to run in four excellent tries.

A well worked move from turnover ball saw the Oke team recycle the ball repeatedly before Todd crashed over in the corner to score.

With the clock ticking down and the scores level, Oke held firm in the face of relentless Launceston pressure. In the dying seconds Marla stole the ball on her own line and surged passed the opposition defence before feeding the ball to Henry who cantered over for his fifth try to win the match.