Tavistock U14s 10

Okehampton U14s 0

TAVISTOCK took on Okehampton in the first round of the U14s Devon cup, in a tightly contested match.

Oke started quickly and kept Tavistock in their own 22 for the first ten minutes. Tavistock resisted this early pressure with some great tackling by both the forwards and the backs. Eventually, they got into the Okehampton half and it was from a scrum, five yards from the Oke line, that saw the first score. Freddie Williams was tackled on the Okehampton try line, then Robin Bickley continued the attack but was still held up before support from Olly Noy Scott saw him dive over the line for the first try for Tavistock.

The second half started again with massive pressure from Okehampton as they pressed to equalise but once again Tavistock weathered the storm. It was Toby Teague who showed his strength to burst through a number of tackles to score Tavistock's second try. Tavistock put in a great team effort but credit must be given to Peter Bull, who did exceedingly well. The game was a fine display of rugby from both teams and this reflected well on both clubs.

Okehampton U14s 37

Newton Abbot U14s 15

PHYSICALLY much bigger, the visitors applied early pressure and after five minutes this was converted to a 0-3 lead by a penalty for infringement in the ruck. Newton Abbot continued to retain possession and after a fine break in midfield, added a converted try to stretch away to 0-10. 

Okehampton rallied to show what a good passing side they can be. Good distribution, recycled ball and quick hands saw Nathan Tomkins burst through the defensive line for the first of his three tries. Jim Finley converted reducing the deficit to 7-10. Scrappy defence by the home side led to the away team scoring another try for 7-15.

On 25 minutes punches were thrown resulting in the opposition losing a player.

The second half gave Oke the stage to give their best display to-date. Technically superior in the forwards, the home side repeatedly won and recycled ball and after five minutes of the restart a superb pass, support and running gave Tom Stevens space to touchdown for a dry. Shortly after Nathan Tomkins bagged his second.  

From the restart Okehampton took the ball through several phases before breaking out in midfield. Daichi Budiman kicked intelligently into space behind the defence and Tomkins again finished well as the home side settled into a margin of 26-15. Noah Cracknell soon made it 32-15 before Mo Taylor capped a superb performance to score the final try.

Although it was a good all round team performance special mention goes to the front three of Joe Stevens, Greg Solkin and Olly Brown.

Tavistock U13s 22

Kingsbridge U13s 10

TAVISTOCK bounced back from last week's  defeat to put in a game based on  strength, patience and solidarity.

However, Kingsbridge had the same plan and for most of the game it was nip and tuck on possession and territory with both teams probing and trying to find chinks.

Luke Edwards opened the scoring for Tavistock after 10 minutes when the Tavistock pack sucked in the Kingsbridge defence allowing Luke to strike out wide. Tom Scott harried the Kingsbridge possession while Jacob Hill and Edward Tait made strong runs from midfield. Playing in new positions at outside centre and lock Dan Pett and Sam Essex made strong tackles in defence and captain Harry Richardson led by example bossing the breakdowns.

The second half saw Kingsbridge push hard and after several rucks in the red zone found a gap to push over the line. Tavistock stepped up a gear and after some patient rucking moved down the pitch giving Henry Varndell Dawes a break to score under the posts making his conversion easier.

After another unconverted Kingsbridge try Tavistock showed their mettle and dug in to give Henry another two opportunities for tries  to seal the win.  James Roisseter was player of the match for his solid work rate at lock in the loose and at lineouts. It was a great team performance from Tavistock against a strong opposition.

Tavistock U11s 15

Saltash U11s 15

TAVISTOCK U11s continued their impressive start to the season with a spirited performance against a good Saltash side. 

In the first game Tavistock took the game to the hosts from the first whistle; they were winning the tackle and dominating the breakdown.  They applied pressure whenever Saltash had the ball and deservedly led 10-5 at half time. 

In the second half Tavistock scored again; however, Saltash came back strongly and scored two good individual tries to level the score although Tavistock had a try disallowed late on.

Tavistock U11s 15

Saltash U11s 5

IN the second game Tavistock started slowly and allowed Saltash a deserved 5-0 half time lead. But in the second half Tavistock's hunger and determination proved too great for Saltash; Tavistock defended well and won nearly all the breakdowns.  The team scored three good tries and were worthy 15-5 winners. 

Captain Freddie Fuller scored twice as did Jack Lane, Dan Garside and Ollie Pett.  Billy Wilkinson was captain, there was a gritty performance from Rob Derry and Tommy Murrin was player of the match.  Congratulations to Joe Wheeldon and Liam Watt who stepped up to play for the U12s.  This was a committed performance from the boys.

Okehampton U10s 5

Topsham U10 10

A MAJORITY of this match, captained by Toby, was played in the centre of the pitch, a deviation when Callum was pushed into touch after breaking for a good run. Lachs, Adam and Shea all worked well in the rucks, one of which followed on with a try from Adam. This appeared to spur Topsham into action and they score two tries in succession.

Okehampton U10s 10

Topsham U10s 10

WILL for Oke put in a sterling run, but got tackled just before the tryline. Josh and Adam's work resulted in a splendid try for Josh. A long run from Shea and great passing between Callum and Shortie was finished off with a try from Will.

Topsham were on their way to another try only to be stopped in their tracks by Shea, also tackling well was Toby. Oke woke up and had some moments of excellence towards the end of this game, with some great skills shown in the rucking.

Okehampton U10s 5

Topsham U10s 10

LACHS for Oke caught a lucky bounce and quickly passed the ball onto Shortie to score but Oke were letting the visitors too close to the tryline.

They did well to hold them off for as long as they did.

Okehampton U10s 10

Topsham U10s 5

JOSH tackled relentlessly in this match for Oke and certainly made his presence felt throughout. As both teams tired, there were plenty of handling errors throughout. Oke tries were scored by Saul and Adam.

Okehampton U10s 15

Topsham 50

OKEHAMPTON were captained by Saul who scored two tries.

Topsham showed dominance in this match. A further Oke try was scored by Ed.

Okehampton U10s 5

Topsham U10s 50

AGAIN a strong team against them and Okehampton's one try was scored by Saul. Some outstanding tackling from Chris was seen.

Saltash U10s 40

Tavistock U10s 40

TAVISTOCK got off to a slow start while Saltash capitalised on several passing errors.

The home team found the gaps and were soon four tries ahead in the first half. However, Tavistock eventually found their form with some great passing, especially from Seb and a good run from Matthew. Tavistock were finally rewarded with a try from Ryan.

The second half brought a revitalised Tavistock team. They were soon off the mark with two tries from Luke. Superb tackling from all the team but especially Eddie, Luke and Max, who denied the opposition the opportunities of the first half and Tavistock clearly moved into a commanding position.

A hat trick  of tries from Eddie and two from James L brought the visitors nearly up to level pegging. Ben and Max  supplied some excellent driving runs and there was good support from Christopher, Barney James D and Dylan . Tavistock battled hard for a full time draw.

n OKEHAMPTON U9s boys traveled to Withycombe for a festival involving 10 teams with Oke in a their pool of five with Totnes, Exmouth, Kingsbridge and the hosts Withycombe - and came away with the cup.

In the first matches the boys were slow to get going, letting in early tries. This seemed to wake them up in each game as the tackles started to fly in and put the other teams on the back foot with constant pressure, causing them to make mistakes which were punished by tries.

As the games moved on the  attacking became a lot better with some great runs and off loading to run in some great tries.

Oke progressed to the final having won all their games to play a well drilled and quick Taunton side.

In a fast paced game with end to end running and try saving tackles from both sides the scores were low and it ended up 3-3 all at full time, so it was sudden death try time with Taunton with the ball first. Oke pushed them back with some great defence which led to a turnover in the corner for Cain Holliday to score the winning try much to the delight of the coaches and parents.

This was a great team effort from the boys who are working hard at training to get to terms with contact.

Tries scored by Grady (8), Matthew (1), Jack (2), Harry (2), Max J (2), Oliver (5) and Cain( 6). These would not have scored without the rest of the team's great support from Cameron, Tyler, Max B, Callum K, Callum R, Drew and Thomas J.

Saltash U8s 6 tries

Tavistock U8s 8 tries

TAVISTOCK won possession of the ball twice by taking seven tags in a row and maximised both times with a try.

There was some really good team play by Tavistock with the boys working hard to support each other in defence and attack.

Tavistock had to bring on rolling substitutes so that every player got a game, but it did not affect the flow of the rugby.

There was superb running rugby from Nathan, who scored three tries, Matthew two and Lewis and Jack one each. William TY worked well in defence and scored one try for his efforts.

Saltash U8s 5 tries

Tavistock U8s 7 tries

THERE was some more great teamwork in this match. The boys all worked well together to keep on top of the Saltash players, taking tag after tag and winning possession for their team. Edward and Dominic both scored hat-tricks and George M scored one.

Saltash U8s 6 tries

Tavistock U8s 8 tries

THE Tavistock team all worked well together, looking for a team mate  to pass to rather than waiting to be tagged. There was superb tagging from player of the week Jack, who took seven tags to turn the possession over to Tavistock. There were some fast runners in the Saltash side but Tavistock kept their defence solid and worked hard at keeping them at bay. Good support came from W-TY who scored three tries; Jack scored two and Matthew, Tom and Lewis all scored one each.

Saltash U8s 10 tries

Tavistock U8s 10 tries

TAVISTOCK started slowly, missing a few tags. Some good tagging from most improved player James Y saw Tavistock win possession several times and helped him bag two tries. George P made some great runs and also scored twice. He combined well with George M to touch down. William A and Dominic both took two tries each and Edward scored one.