Kingsbridge U16s 14

Tavistock U16s 5

TAVISTOCK struggled to get going in the wind, rain and mud at Kingsbridge.

The home side dominated possession for large parts of the game; but for some passes not going to hand they may well have added more to their tally.

Chris Watts, Ethan Lamerton and Ben Milligan tackled strongly all game keeping the scores level for much of the first half.

Theo Cousins and Will Gardner collected some excellent line out ball and the Tavistock scrum held its own.

However, Tavistock seemed to hesitate at the breakdown and this cost them dearly. George Hillson drove his forwards on from scrum half and Tavi had moments when their ball carriers made inroads, but unfortunately they coughed up possession too easily.

Nevertheless, Scott Morris, Billy Rowe and Steve Kirby defended strongly and when they did secure the ball the backline looked dangerous. Winger Sean Donnelly ran powerfully and gained Tavistock much needed yardage. Tavistock scored first after a sweeping backs move saw the ball move to the outside left channel where full back Bernie Sadler drove over to put Tavistock in front.

Kingsbridge soon bounced back though and persistent pressure saw them drive over for a converted score, which put them ahead at the break.

In the second half Kingsbridge played the sloping pitch cleverly and kicked Tavistock back into the bottom right hand corner. Will Trembath ran back several kicks bravely but Tavistock lost a man to the sin bin. In the last ten to 15 minutes Tavistock seemed to get into their stride a bit more and the forwards' pick and drive game seemed to have some success. Unfortunately the Kingsbridge defence held out and the home side secured a well deserved win.

Okehampton U16s 14

Barnstaple U16s 34

THIS was the second meeting in the league for Okehampton and Barnstaple.

Okehampton got off to the worst possible start and conceded a try within five minutes.

Barnstaple players were running hard at every opportunity looking to make gaps in Okehampton's defence and to offload the ball quickly to their players in support. This tactic soon started to pay off helping Barnstaple to run in two more tries with only 15 minutes played.

The pitch was cutting up badly and was beginning to affect both teams. Barnstaple scored again before half time to give them a 22-0 lead. Okehampton knew they had to up their game in the second half and so they did.

They started to put more pressure on the opposition, not allowing them so much time and space and the two teams looked evenly matched.

Barnstaple scored the next two tries but Okehampton hit back with a try from Dan Thorne who fought his way over from the back of a ruck five metres out. Then Jack Dickinson powered his way over from ten metres out to score under the post. James Bowden converted both tries.

Okehampton can be proud of their second half performance.

Okehampton U14s 49

Crediton 7

WITH the back pitch at Oaklands waterlogged after a week's heavy rain Okehampton under 14s faced Crediton in drier conditions at the college.

The boys started briskly with an early score, the result of a fantastic catch and run from full back George Harding. He may be one of the smaller players in the side but he is a powerful runner and he managed to cut through Crediton's defence before passing with perfect timing to Daichi Budiman, who crossed the line for the first of his three tries.

George continued to show what a great full back he is, catching a number of tricky high balls and driving at the opposition time and time again to set up attacks for Okehampton.

Every player though showed commitment and passion in all areas, especially in defence — and this was needed because Crediton refused to roll over, applying continued pressure throughout the game as they looked to score.

They were rewarded in the first half with a fine try and conversion. This was, however, going to be Okehampton's day and the lads ran in eight excellent tries including a first of the season for Ethan Baker.

Mention must also be made of the tireless work of Nathan Tomkins for his attacking, intelligent play, the passing and kicking of Mo Taylor and a confidence-boosting try for returning scrum half Kai Middleton. A terrific team performance overall and all players deserve praise for contributing to the win. Other tries came from Noah Cracknell (2) and Mo Taylor (1).

Bideford U13s 0

Tavistock U13s 50

PLAYING on a superb first team pitch at Bideford, 45seconds after kick off Tavistock had scored after Henry Varndell-Dawes pounced on the running Bideford forward who caught the kick off, stole the ball and sped off down the pitch, kicked through for Charlie Meakin to touch down his first try for Tavistock.

This opened the gates for Tavistock to take control of the game. Bideford rucked hard but came up against a wall of tackles and pressure that caused panic in the Bideford backs. One minute later Henry had scored himself after a trademark darting run.

This was followed quickly by winger Luke Edwards catching a clearing kick and running the ball back through the advancing defence to score. Strong possession and quick ball from scrum half Dan Pett and simple stright running from the Tavistock centres created two chances for Jacob Hill to score his first two tries for Tavistock and for Henry to score again.

Strong scrummaging from Sennen Bench, Charlie Meakin and Lewis Smith created another two chances for Tavistock to score again before half time via the eye for a gap of Edward Tait and the power of number 8 Harry Richardson.

Both coaches agreed to call a halt at half time as the score was now 50-0, thanks to some strong conversions out wide from Harry Edwards. The second half saw the Tavistock backs playing with the Bideford forwards and vice versa in a training game. This opened up into a much stronger competition with the Tavistock backs showing their skills on the big wide pitch. Owen Staples scored two tries after some blistering pace down the wing and Dan Pett handed off his teammates to score. Spurred on, the Bideford forwards worked hard to secure quick ball for their new team mates.

The game was closed by Tavistock flanker Noah Berridge making a strong run down the wing and barrelling over the line taking tackle monster Henry with him. Both teams and parents enjoyed the second half that was played in the spirit of junior rugby.

Okehampton U11s 5

Crediton 11

OKEHAMPTON dominated from the off of this home game, attacking with confidence and rucking with sheer determination. Elliot (1), Holly, Morgan, Alex, Ethan and Isaac took tackling to the next level again and again whilst Jacob thought ahead and made himself available for passing to try and get down the weak side.

In the second half Crediton's players were not only good with the ball but fast, but Okehampton stuck to attacking and mauled with purpose, to take control and make them work.

Sam, Joe (3) and Cameron (1) put in some good effort making a big difference but the team as a whole worked well together.

With players now looking for support and passing using the line more Okehampton seem to be getting stronger. Matt made some good clearance kicks, Aedan, Marcus, Freddie, Jacob and Holly were all good with support. The score does not reflect Okehampton's ability to get stuck in and the effort put in week after week.

Okehampton U11s 10

Teignmouth 30

OKEHAMPTON'S defence was put under attack from a well drilled Teignmouth side for a good 10 to 15 minutes. Sam got stuck in with some great tackles but Teignmouth managed to score.

With Okehampton swapping players throughout the game they soon caught up and turned it around to take full control and keep Teignmouth away from their try line.

Elliot, Ethan, Cameron and Isaac were all for getting stuck in and tackling with purpose whilst Ioan and Jacob scored and Seth and Will played to their strengths.

Watching Okehampton's players take control, running forward with sheer determination and now seeing players pass out down the line makes for a great game to watch.

Crediton U10s 15

Okehampton 45

THE wet long grass proved heavy going for the teams today captained by Dan and Archie.

Crediton opened the play with a quick first try. Alex passed to Ed and then onto Lachs who used his power to cover considerable amounts of ground when required.

At times he seemed unstoppable with several players hanging onto him. Dan also used the same technique. Saul's agility worked well on an unsuspecting player charging him into touch; Will was in the right place at the right time to tackle a speeding Crediton player. Alex opened the scoring for Okehampton with a well deserved try. Jacob accepted a well timed pass and Shortie scored one in this half.

Shortie opened the second half with a nifty try, Shea picked from a ruck, passed to Josh to score. Excellent passing from Shea to Callum and onto Adam for one of his two tries.

Josh, with determination etched in his face, ran almost the length of the pitch for another try with most of the Crediton team snapping at his heels. The forwards should all be mentioned for their support of each other and keeping the pressure on throughout the game. Two tries were also scored by Lachs.

Crediton U10s 10

Okehampton 35

CHRIS, Dan and Jacob handled the scrums in this half. Again the support from all the team was evident with a lot of hard work close to Crediton's tryline, but they managed to break away. Flynn passed well from the scrums, Will's rucking was fantastic and Ryan showed spirit in getting 'stuck in'. One try was scored by Saul.

The second half again saw Lachs powering as he does best, Lachs and Callum read each other's play as they were always there to support each other. Tries were scored by Shea, Ed and two each from Lachs and Adam. Toby and Ben were always in the mix making their valuable contribution.

Tavistock U9s v Liskeard U9s

TAVISTOCK hosted a small Liskeard team. There were insufficient Liskeard players so a few members of the Tavistock team joined them.

Tavistock could still manage to make up two sides so the game was played as a round robin tournament between all three teams.

Tavistock A played Liskeard in the first match running out 5-3 winners. Joshua Bailey scored three tries for Tavistock and William White (Tavistock player) scored two for Liskeard .

The second game featured Tavistock B against Liskeard. Tavistock won 4-1 with tries by Amelie White, Archie Chalk and Joel Blake.

The third game was Tavistock A v Tavistock B. The winners of this match were Tavistock B with some superb possession play.

The teams then played each other a second time. Tavistock A again had the upper hand against Liskeard winning 3-1 and Tavistock B also beat Liskeard in their second match against them winning 2-0.

Tavistock A and B lined up for the final game knowing that either team could still win. Tavistock A won 1-0 but this was not enough to stop Tavistock B being the overall victors on tries scored.

There were some outstanding performances by all teams and some superb tries.

Tavistock U8s 6

Liskeard and Looe 2

THREE strong Tavistock teams took on a single Liskeard and Looe side over three matches and impressed with their teamwork and excellent tagging.

From the start of the first game the team gelled well with the ball going back to Nathan who made a jinking run through the Liskeard and Looe defence to touch down the first of his two tries in the game.

Jack raced through the Liskeard and Looe attacking line and snatched nearly all the six tags which caused the ball to pass over to Tavistock and then ran the whole length of the pitch to score. Liskeard and Looe tightened up their passing and came back with a try. But Tavistock came back with some excellent running and George P bustled over, before Nathan again ran through the Liskeard and Looe defence after running onto a pass from William A.

In the second half, Tavistock won possession of the ball after six tags were taken in a great combination from Jack and William A, with good support play from Charlie and George M. William then scored two tries in quick succession, the second after picking up a loose ball and blasting for the line. Liskeard and Looe scored a second just before the final whistle.

Tavistock U8s 6

Liskeard and Looe U8s 3

TAVISTOCK put together some excellent passing in this game, with Gabriel and Michael working together well from the first whistle to send player of the week Michael through to score the first try.

Tavistock then went through the Liskeard and Looe team, taking six tags in a row to win back possession.

From almost the Liskeard and Looe try line, Tom raced down the pitch to score the first of his hat-trick of tries.

The Tavistock boys kept up the pressure with some excellent tagging from JJ and William S but Liskeard came back to score. Edward then showed a great side step to put the home side 3-1 up at half time.

In the second half some more good tagging, particularly from Lewis, James C, Michael and Gabriel and support from Brendan. Tom scored twice more and Michael once, both boys making great runs through the Liskeard and Looe defence.

Tavistock U8s 6

Liskeard and Looe 6

TAVISTOCK won the toss and again scored straight from the whistle. Austin passed back to Matthew who was not to be stopped as he charged for the line.

Liskeard and Looe had come together better as a team with the two previous games as practice. They came back straight away with a try, although the Tavistock boys held them at bay taking some excellent tags, particularly from Alastair and Joe. Dominic took Tavistock back into the lead, but Liskeard brought it level again.

Tavistock kept up the pressure with William TY and Dominic strong in support, and Alastair sidestepping through the Liskeard and Looe team to touch down the first of his two tries.

Liskeard came back with three tries and took the lead after snatching up a dropped ball and scoring just before half time.

Using their rolling substitutes, Tavistock kept on top of it and Max came through to score as well as taking some excellent tags, earning him the title 'most improved player' this week.

Some great supporting team play from William TY saw Matthew break through for his second try and, while Liskeard and Looe scored again, Alastair touched down to bring the score level just before the whistle.