Tavistock U16s 44

Newton Abbot U16s 0

TAVISTOCK faced harsh weather conditions in round six of the Fisherman’s cup.

Tavistock started with the wind behind them and pressed with an early converted try from Zac Gorton. The conditions meant that the backs were not getting much of the ball and it was skipper Ollie Noy Scott who scored next, from a maul after Tom McKenzie had won a well worked line out just out from the try line. Newton Abbot started to exert pressure via their forwards but Laurence Stewart and Archie Allen stood firm and Toby Teague popped up with a third try for Tavistock. Gorton scored again to put Tavistock 22 points up at half time.

Now facing  strong winds Tavistock played tactical rugby by keeping the ball in hand with their forwards with Jason Blake and Jude White combining a number of times, to gain excellent ground down the pitch before White scored. Front row player, Joe Burbage, also got through for another try, taking the score to 34 points.

Newton Abbot kept going haranguing the Tavistock scrum half, Tom Pearson, but a lovely move via the backs from Luke Lewandowski to James Paxman allowed Will Redwood to score his first try for Tavistock. A second try for Toby meant Tavistock wrapped up a fine win, leaving them tied for second place with Torquay in the table, both teams on 25 points and Okehampton just ahead on 26 points.

Plymstock U16s 5

Okehampton U16s 51

OKEHAMPTON U16s’ hopes of reaching the Fisherman’s League plate final were kept alive with an emphatic victory over Plymstock.

Plymstock kicked off into a keen wind, and initially took control with some good possession while Oke looked a little nervous, but after five minutes Kai Middleton linked with George Harding to release George Dickinson on the wing, who used his strength to hand off tacklers and score the first try.

The next score came from some good forward pressure, especially from Tom Arthurs and Will Risdon, which allowed Dickinson to break through and float a lovely pass to full back James Judd, who timed his run perfectly to score under the posts.

Another Dickinson break saw him cross but he was held up; from the resulting scrum, number nine James McCulloch spotted Middleton, gratefully received to cross and score. Dickinson converted and The Okes were ahead, 0-17. With Oke cruising a few mistakes began to creep in, with some knock-ons and silly penalties given away. Plymstock exploited Oke’s complacency and broke through for a score. This stung Oke back into action and a strong carry from captain Noah Cracknell allowed Arthurs to gather the ball and spin a pass to Middleton, who released Dickinson for his second and open up Okehampton’s lead at half time.

In the second half Oke got off to a flying start with Cracknell scoring within four minutes of the kick off, converting his own try to make it 5-29. From the restart Mo Taylor caught and carried superbly, passing to Middleton who cut inside and chipped and chased, outpacing the Plymstock defence to ground the ball just inside the goal area for a superb score.

The restart did not go 10 yards, and Oke elected to scrum. McCulloch passed to Middleton, who ran straight before firing an excellent pass at Cracknell who took it at pace before offloading to Dickinson, who dotted down for his hat trick to finish a sublime move.

Oke camped down inside Plymstock’s 22 for 10 minutes, but could not break down the home side’s defence. Finally, though, George Harding weaved his way through to score from some patient forward phases. With just a couple of minutes left, Zac Bell caught a loose ball well and earned a penalty from which the ball went through hands to reach Cracknell, who scored from close range to seal the match, 5-51. Credit to Plymstock for fighting to the end but every Oke player contributed to a great win.

Plymstock U16s 5

Okehampton U16s 51

OKEHAMPTON U16s’ hopes of reaching the Fisherman’s League plate final were kept alive with an emphatic victory over Plymstock.

Plymstock kicked off into a keen wind, and initially took control with some good possession while Oke looked a little nervous, but after five minutes Kai Middleton linked with George Harding to release George Dickinson on the wing, who used his strength to hand off tacklers and score the first try.

The next score came from some good forward pressure, especially from Tom Arthurs and Will Risdon, which allowed Dickinson to break through and float a lovely pass to full back James Judd, who timed his run perfectly to score under the posts.

Another Dickinson break saw him cross the line but he was held up; from the resulting scrum, number nine James McCulloch passed to Middleton who scored. Dickinson converted for a 0-17 lead.

With Oke cruising a few mistakes began to creep in, with some knock-ons and silly penalties given away. Plymstock exploited Oke’s complacency and broke through for a score. This stung Oke back into action and a strong carry from captain Noah Cracknell allowed Arthurs to gather the ball and spin a pass to Middleton, who released Dickinson his second and opened up Okehampton’s lead at half time.

In the second half Oke got off to a flying start with Cracknell scoring within four minutes of the kick off, converting his own try to make it 5-29.

From the restart Mo Taylor caught and carried superbly, passing to Middleton who cut inside and chipped and chased, outpacing the Plymstock defence to ground the ball just inside the goal area for a superb score. The restart did not go 10, and Oke elected to scrum. McCulloch passed to Middleton, who ran straight before firing an excellent pass at Cracknell who took it at pace before offloading to Dickinson, who dotted down for his hat trick to finish a sublime move.

Oke camped down inside Plymstock’s 22 for 10 minutes, but could not break down the home side’s defence. Finally, though, George Harding weaved his way through to score from some patient forward phases. With just a couple of minutes left, Zac Bell caught a loose ball well and earned a penalty from which the ball went through hands to reach Cracknell, who scored from close range to seal the match, 5-51. This was a great team win for Oke but credit to Plymstock for not dropping their heads and fighting to the end.

Cullompton U13s 65

Okehampton U13s 0

DESPITE Okehampton’s kick-off and the awarding of penalty scrums for two of the opposition’s knock-ons in the first few seconds, Cullompton almost entirely maintained possession as they chalked-up seven tries in the first half.

Oke did have some moments of great play: they won a scrum early in the first half, as Jacob nipped the ball across to Ethan who cleared well, followed up by some hard tackles by Alex, Ethan, Isaac, Marcus, Morgan, Sam and Tom.

Short runs from Marcus, Morgan and Jacob made some progress into Cullompton’s half before Jacob was tackled, leaving Oscar to run the ball to 10 metres. Cullompton repossessed with a tackle and ran back to centre, where a powerful tackle from Tom gave them some grief but they responded with a good ruck and escaped to score. There were several determined runs from Harry, Oscar, Rene and Tom and Sam was on it throughout.

In the second half, newcomer Ryan was keen to make a contribution and kept up some good pressure. Cullompton were quick to make progress but some awesome tactics from Luke, Marcus, Oscar and Tom deflected the ball off the try line for a while and kept up the pressure throughout the second half.

Oke fought to the whistle, with Cameron and Ethan in hot pursuit for a tackle along the touchline, Marcus joined the chase to ground the winger into touch in a full-on, team effort, try-saving tackle.

Ivybridge U12s

Tavistock U12s

IVYBRIDGE started the stronger and a weak defensive line and slack tackling gave the home side the upper hand. The visitors made hard work of the little possession they had by lack of support to those that broke the gain line or not passing the ball before contact.

The second half was more positive for Tavistock with a brace of tries from Mack who has turned into a formidable ball carrier by his direct, no nonsense running. The momentum was short lived as Ivybridge composed themselves and found gaps in the visitors’ defence, particularly up the middle of the field and added more scores.

Paignton U12s 10

Okehampton U12s 15

PAIGNTON kicked off the game with a ball straight to Okehampton’s Craddy, who passed to Lachs through to Callum, Josh and let to a ruck. Craddy got the ball out to Adam then Saul, before another ruck when Paignton got the ball back. Play found it’s way to Alex, but the Paignton boys were soon on him. Oke’s Ed ripped the ball and passed to Saul whose fast legs covered the ground, but he was soon tackled. Craddy kicked high and was caught by Alex’s safe hands.

A ruck close to the tryline saw Paignton push through to score.

Play resumed with a kick by Shortie. Oke were close to scoring but Paignton got the better of them, Oke fought back with a long run by Adam and an offload to Josh.

Paignton had the ball but Oke’s Josh took on a lad twice the size of him and bought him down. Alex was full of good runs. A lot of passing and tackling close to the try line saw Craddy squeeze in for an Oke try.

The second half started with an early maul as Will, Ed, Callum and Lachs worked together only to have their try attempt held up. Shortie, Dan and Chris were all working well in the mauls and Josh took on some long runs.

Paignton were close to scoring, but a joint try saving tackle from Saul and Adam called time on the game. Credit also goes to Oke’s Ben, Shea and Toby who made their mark on the game.

Torquay U12s 15

Okehampton U12s 5

TORQUAY were the dominant pack, a majority of them being physically larger than their Oke opponents. The Oke lads made mistakes to let in an early try. The visitors held up another try before the home side scored again. It looked as if another was on the way but for Alex taking his opponent into touch.

The second half saw Oke wake up and there were some glimmers of hope, but also some moments that were not so good with missed tackles, dropped balls and general lethargy.

Oke U9s 8 tries

Cullompton U9s 6 tries

WILF opened the scoring for Oke after a slick five phase move with Zara supplying the final accurate pass. Oke were quickly two up as their solid defence denied Cullompton any forward momentum, eventually forcing a turnover which Zara popped to Rocco, who blasted down the wing to score.

Cullompton ground their way back, working the ball up and down their line repeatedly before finding a gap to squeeze over in the corner to score. From the restart Wilf crashed through the tackles to put Oke further ahead. Cullompton pressed hard but Marla and Ciaran showed no mercy tackling everyone within reach. The ferocity of the tackling saw both sides spill the ball in contact, Marla seized a loose ball and fed Lewis. who set off on a jinking run before passing to Wilf to score. Cullompton barged over for two quick scores before further Oke tries from Jacob and two from, Thomas.

Oke U9s 7 tries

Cullompton U9s 4 tries

OKEHAMPTON knocked the wind out of Cullompton’s sails with the ferocity of their tackling. Todd and Henry led the charge, harrying the opposition at the breakdown. A burst from Henry released Stanley to open the scoring in the corner, quickly followed by two more tries for Henry. Cullompton picked up a couple of scores, before Lily took route one to crash through and release Henry for another try. Henry forced Cullompton to spill the ball,which Todd seized and spun it to Lily who in turn fed Dylan who bravely held onto the ball to score. Sustained Oke pressure won out as Henry found a hole in the defence to pick up his fifth try.

Oke U9s 6 tries

Cullompton U9s 4 tries

OKEHAMPTON took an early lead with Wilf bursting through the middle to score. Lewis and Marla marshalled the defence well with some crunching tackles, which forced Cullompton into some hurried loose passing.

Rocco then burst through to intercept a Cullompton pass and accelerated away to score at the far end of the pitch.

Cullompton started to make their extra size and weight count as they kept the ball close and pushed over twice. Jacob put Oke ahead again with an opportunistic try straight from the kick off before Cullompton hit back to level the game again.

Cullompton increased the pressure further but fine low tackling from Oke held them on the Oke line before Lewis snaffled turnover ball and released Ciaran to sprint the full length of the pitch to score. Oke made sure of the result as Zara and Thomas shipped the ball down the line to Wilf who rounded his opposite number to score from the halfway line.

Oken U9s 6 tries

Cullompton U9s 6 tries

CULLOMPTON were quickest out of the blocks and Oke found themselves two scores down. Stung into action Oke upped their game and a bullocking run from Dylan got them back on the scoresheet.

Stanley was relentless in his tackling, showing great technique to get nice and low. A fine sweeping move pitch saw Ewan score in the corner. After further slick passing, Henry belted along the touch line before unselfishly passing to Stanley to score. Cullompton pulled one back before another strong run from Dylan brought him a second try. The teams traded tackles with Lily making some massive hits before two more tries from Henry levelled an entertaining game.