Devon Cup

Exmouth U16s 2

Okehampton U16s 15

ON a hot day from the kick off Okehampton pressured Exmouth, but through some strong defensive play Exmouth held firm and the Oaks failed to convert the pressure to points.

Turning the defence in to attack the ball was swiftly moved downfield into Okehampton's half and they found themselves scrambling their defence. Regrouping well they shut down Exmouth's attack and then launched yet another counter. The ball moved from end to end at a fierce pace, punctuated only by the odd scrum and line out but with neither team scoring.

It was deep into the half before Luke Shinn finally broke through to score the first points. The end to end stuff continued when a clearance kick from Tallun Burns was not dealt with by Exmouths full back. The bouncing ball was grabbed by player of the match Brandon Horn, who never stopped running and chasing for the whole match, for an opportunistic try.

Exmouth continued to fight and finally broke through to dot down and to go into the break trailing 5 points to 10.

The second half saw just as much end to end action with both teams not letting their foot off the pace. Time after time line breaks were closed down with last minute smothering tackles, then the ball either cleared to touch or picked up and run back at the opposition.

Okehampton managed to put a bit of width on the play and released Tallun Burns on the left wing to score a relatively unopposed try in the left hand corner, and taking Okehampton ten points clear.

The final 25 minutes were played out much the same as the rest of the game, from end to end, but neither team managing to add to their points total.

Devon Junior Cup

Bideford U15s 12

Okehampton U15s 35

FROM the kick off in this preliminary round match it was clear that Bideford, much improved from last season, were going to put their new skills to good use.  

Okehampton held off the attack with some solid defending and so the first 10 or 15 minutes was a bit of a stale mate.

Although Bideford had the forwards to match the opposition Okehampton had greater pace and strength in the backs.

Daniel Thorne opened the scoring, by showing some good pace out wide. This started to set the tone Okehampton knowing if they spread the ball wide they could make more yardage and give themselves more opportunities.

Bideford made Okehampton work for every point and at one stage came close to only being a score behind.

Further tries for Oke came from Daniel Thorne, Liam Pyle, Daniel Van Staden and Niall Leahy. Overall Okehampton came out deserved winners in what was a close game despite the final score.

Okehampton U13s 43

Barnstaple U13s 15

OKEHAMPTON put in a near faultless display to progress to the next round of the cup.

Possession was key to their success, created by excellent rucking throughout the team. It was this continued pressure which enabled George to go over in the corner for the first try.

Oke continued the pressure, and after a break by Noah, the ball was passed through the back line to James J, whose blistering pace put him over for the second try.

From the subsequent kick off came a moment of individual class; catching the ball, Tom S faked a pass, wrong footing the opposition to break through and score under the posts. George added the two points. To round off a near perfect half, Nathan took the ball from the ruck and spun an excellent pass out to James J who ran down the line for his second try.

Barnstaple started the second half brightly and would have scored but for great defensive work by George. It was the same player who stripped the ball from the opposition before making a solo break to score under the posts.

Scrum-half Kai was a thorn in Barnstaple's side throughout the game, constantly snapping at the heels of his counterpart. From a Barnstaple scrum, Kai was on his opponent in a second, forcing a fumble. The ball was retrieved by Jim, whose deft footwork and pace saw him score.

After a Barnstaple try, Okehampton reasserted their dominance and great work by the entire pack enabled substitute Mo bundle the ball over the line.

With such a commanding lead, Okehampton can be forgiven for conceding two more consolation tries.

Tavistock U12s 33

OPM RFC U12s 7

TAVISTOCK kicked off, contested the ruck from the catch and Henry Varndell-Dawes scored a try within 14 seconds

after a shimmy down the wing.

OPM restarted and Tavy worked the ball swiftly back through a couple of rucks before captain and fly half Harry Edwards released the Tavy backs once again, running through the hands to Henry for try number two.

The Tavistock forwards rucked and mauled hard to secure possession with Henry scoring twice more from strong tackling out wide by Ollie Sampson and James White creating steals for Henry to exploit to make it 25-0 at half time. New forwards Jaxom Cann and Luke Wise worked hard in the pack to complement the tough rucking with Harry Richardson leading by example from lock.  Kiran Warner and Ben McKenzie made good yards with their direct running and scrum half duties were shared by Dan Pett and Tom Persse with both creating quick ball.

The second half saw OPM to rally in a more equal contest. Harry Richardson drove over for Tavistock fifth try.

Edward Tait played intelligently at full back.

This was a good team win and well done to James Kenyon, James White, Dan Pett and Henry Varndell-Dawes for helping out a depleted OPM side.

Tavistock U11s 80

OPM's U11s 7

TAVISTOCK hit the ground running with an abrasive and hard running season opener.

Built on a great forwards platform from Logan, Katherine and Tom, Tavistock never let OPM's settle, allowing Toby B,  Daniel and Isaac to cut loose. Daniel scored the first three tries inside five minutes, all converted by Isaac.

Toby L and newcomer George got in on the act with excellent tries following some slick passing. OPM's did score following a defensive fumble, but after that Tom, Issac, Toby and Dan scored further tries. even , Chris, on loan from OPM's, scored much to his own team's frustration. new kickers emerged to convert tries with Toby, Tom and Daniel all achieving the extras. Man of the match for aggression in the loose play and much improved fitness, Logan.

New players are always welcome. Call 07739 245145 if you would like to try out.

Okehampton U10s 45

Bideford U10s 30

STARTING off this season with new rules for this age group was always going to be interesting but Okehampton and Bideford did not disappoint with both teams getting straight into the game with no apprehension.

Bideford had some strong players and both teams appeared to have grasped the new rules well.

Okehampton played the rucks, passed the ball and tackled as a team with some superb team support which was fantastic to watch and see how much they had learnt. In a game so evenly matched the pressure was on for both teams but Okehampton fought hard and played hard to take the lead and a well deserved win.

Oke tries from Joe, Seth (2), Aedan, Jacob (3) Matt and Holly.

Tavistock U9s 11 tries

OPM U9s 8 tries

TAVISTOCK started brightly with some good link play ending in a try for Matthew B as a burst of speed took him round the outside of the OPM defence.

The visitors from the restart showed excellent ball retention in the tackle to eventually level the score. It was nip and tuck for the rest of the half with Seb scoring for Tavistock before OPM's equalised.

Tavistock took the lead again through Matthew B only to be pegged back again by the visitors. A handling error from the home team was seized upon by OPM and although Seb scored again the home team went into the break trailing by a single score.

After the break Tavistock's attacking play clicked with James hitting a streak of form to score five times. Ben added another try and as the Tavy tackling became more and more effective OPM's could not stay with the pace.

Tavistock U9s 6 tries

OPM's U9s 3tries

A second, shorter, game saw Callum run in two quick tries. OPM's never recovered from this early setback and as the game progressed it was obvious that the visitors were running out of steam.

A lovely flowing move which was rounded off in style with Matt B running onto a great pass from Matt D. Further tries for Matt B and Matt D extended Tavy's lead and Ryan burst through the OPM defence running for a fine individual try.

Okehampton U8s 13

Bideford U8s 14

THE first game of the season Okehampton scored tries from Oliver 3, Harry and Grady 4. Max j had a good run but was unlucky not to reach the line.

In the second game Bideford were more dominant with some slick passing.Good tagging by Billy, Freddie and a couple of good runs by Max B and Cameron.

Tries scored by Oliver,Matthew, Grady,Thomas, Jake and in his first ever game Tyler Watts.

n OKEHAMPTON RFC is hosting an Exeter Chiefs Rugby training camp for juniors on Wednesday, October 30, as part of theirs and our Community Rugby programme supported by OCRA.

Coaches from the Exeter Chiefs Premiership team, which will use the club's Oaklands Park facilities, changing rooms, pitches etc. The club's kitchen will be open for refreshments throughout the day. The details of the Camp ares:

This will be a one day camp during the school half-term holiday and will involve all ranges of skills with and without the ball as well as contact skills, set pieces and tackling. All training and play will take place under the supervision of the Exeter Chiefs coaching staff. 

The camp is for age groups 6 - 16 years, boys and girls

Costing £25 to book a place go through the web site at bookings.rugbycamps.co.uk/index

Any questions regarding the camp please contact the Exeter club on 01392 890914 or email to [email protected]">[email protected] for further details.