Tavistock U16s 69

Plymstock/Saltash U16s 0

THIS score line flattered Tavistock a little and did not reflect the efforts made by a spirited Plymstock/Saltash, who competed bravely for large parts of the game.

Tavistock opened their account after about 10 minutes with a strong break from wing Sean Donnelly, who handed off opponents before racing clear. Ben Milligan converted. Billy Rowe then went over from the base of the scrum. Good handling from the backline made space for flanker Will Gardner to score wide out on the left, with Ben Milligan converting well.

Ethan Lamerton took his first score nicely after space had been made by Dan Willis, Milligan and Chris Watts; he soon added a second twisting and turning his way over the line with sharp shooter Milligan converting both scores.

In the second half the away team started to tire and Tavistock's forwards started to dominate. Ben Luke and Theo Cousins started to carry well while Scott Morris, Steve Kirby and Harry Jeans tackled and contested the breakdown. Hooker George Murrain showed his handling skills in the backline and Bernie Sadler ran some good lines from fullback racing clear down the right wing to score. Steve Kirby showed pace, catching the opposition unaware and bursting through a ruck to score under the posts. Will Trembath came on as scrum half and took his opportunity to scamper over for a score from the base of a ruck.

Another blistering break from Will Gardner saw him race through from the half way line leaving defenders in his wake before diving over the line. Ben Luke showed his strength by driving through the opposition to score in the left hand corner and Milligan completed a superb kick to secure the extra two points.

Tavistock's Richard Cann guested for the opposition to ensure they had a full team and showed determination throughout despite being under the cosh for large periods. Billy Rowe brought proceedings to an end with another powerful pick and drive.

Crediton U16s 19

Okehampton  U16s 47

STRAIGHT from the kick off Okehampton applied the pressure and worked through some good phases of play which led to the ball being fed out to Dan Thorne who darted down the blind side to score. Two minutes later Liam Pyle intercepted a pass to score Okehampton's second try to give them a 14-0 lead with only five minutes played.

Crediton were stunned but they did not buckle and after some poor discipline by Oke managed to work their way up the pitch through a series of penalties which eventually led to a try.

Minutes later Crediton's big centre burst through several tackles to score.

Conor Netherway scored the next two tries to make the score 26-12 at half time.

Crediton scored first in the second half and the game remained fairly even with one score separating them.

With 15 minutes left to play Okehampton hit a purple patch and after some good forward work, Joe Mawle powered over to give the Okes some breathing space.

Jack Dickinson was the next to score after bursting over from five metres out. Then a quick tap penalty taken on the half way line led to another try for Okehampton. James Bowden put in another excellent kicking display, converting six of his seven kicks.

Okehampton U14s 36

Torquay U14s 19

OKEHAMPTON U14s hosted Torquay, winning a tense but exciting game.

Building on the improvements shown last week, the Oke boys delivered a fine team performance demonstrating some great work in the rucks, determined tackling and growing confidence in their passing game.

Okehampton dominated the first half, but after a good score early in the second they lost focus and let Torquay back into the match with two quick, well-taken tries.

The Okehampton side dug deep, however, showing great character and turned defence into attack to find their way to Torquay's try line twice more to seal a deserved victory.

Oke tries from Jim Finley, George Dickinson, Tom Stevens and Noah Cracknell.

Plymstock Albion Oaks U13s 17

Tavistock U13s 0

THIS was always going to be a tough cup match but Tavistock were in no mood for a drubbing.

They pulled together and put in a display of teamwork and simple but effective rugby, epitomised by two try saving tackles from Jaxom Cann and Edward Tait, one in each half.

The bigger Plymstock pack edged the rucks with their clearing out, but Tavistock took the scrummaging honours, retaining their own ball well under some strong pressure and with hooker Ben Mckenzie stealing the ball for fun.

James Roisetter and Harry Richardson secured the Tavistock line out ball in the face of some ferocious disruption. Sam Essex and Ollie Sampson  in the second row made tackle after tackle with Harry Edwards and  Edward Tait doing the same in midfield when the ball made it out of the melee.

Plymstock took the lead after eight minutes when a hole appeared through the middle of a ruck and the big Plymstock lock surged through to score.  Tavistock pressured via flankers Mat Davey, Noah Berridge, Tom Scott and the whole back line and forced Plymstock to rethink their normally slick passing game. However, a loose ball allowed the strong Plymstock fly half to power and hand off his way through for their second.

Playing downhill in the second half , Tavistock turned the screw harder and some great territorial kicking from Henry Varndell-Dawes and Harry Edwards kept Plymstock fighting to get out of their own half.

Tavistock half backs Tom Persse, Dan Pett and Harry Edwards  kept the moves flowing and some straight running by Jacob Hill, Owen Staples and Luke Edwards almost pierced the solid Plymstock defence but a couple of try savers from the Plymstock fly half thwarted them.

Plymstock eventually managed to get into the Tavistock half and were rewarded with a final try to close out  the game.

James Roisseter and Jack Bellamy  were unlucky not to score for Tavistock.

Despite losing 17-0 the Tavistock team left the pitch with heads held high, knowing that they had just given Plymstock their hardest game this season.

Tavistock girls U13s 8 tries

Plymstock Albion Oaks U13s 8 tries

AT the beginning of the season the game is often ragged and strewn with errors. This was the first match for most of these girls for Tavistock and they managed a creditable draw against Plymstock Oaks.

The Tavistock girls have been training hard for several weeks and they did not disappoint in their first match. Right from the start they showed that they could run powerfully with the ball and in defence, tackle hard and low.

The first try went to Oaks whose winger made some space of the outside to run down the touch to cross the line at the left.

Tavistock's strength was to barge up through the middle with Louise Thornton and Kaya Bos driving hard. Their endeavour was rewarded with a try by Kaya. Oaks were well drilled in moving the ball out along the line and with the winger ran in two further tries.

Jemima Cameron then took the initiative for Tavistock and marked their danger girl. Several great tackles by Jemima brought her spree to an end. Kate Gray, Rhian Packwood and Megan Gatcum now started to get their game together and each made several telling runs, so that by half time the score was five tries each. Throughout the game Mia Cole drove her way through the centre and stopped many Oaks attacks by powerful tackling.

In the second half with both sides tiring, a dropped ball in the goal area deprived Tavistock of a great win. With uncontested scrums at this level, Plymstock's experience told. They left their talented winger out of the scrum and with the forwards tied up in the scrum, there was space aplenty for her to sprint into. She ran in three tries, to make the scores even at the end of the match.

With more practice and match play, the strength and speed of the Tavistock girls could produce a great team.

Okehampton U13s 36

Newton Abbot U13s 0

IN their first round Junior Cup game, Oke came out firing on all cylinders from the off. 

Within two minutes of play, Greg Haste set off cross field, passing out to Olly Northcott on the wing, who made a superb run from halfway, to score his first try for the team, and a fitting opener for the game. 

Following a further five minutes of pressure from Oke, quick ball from the ruck saw Greg Haste set off on a run from halfway, breaking a tackle on the way, to cross the Newton Abbot line. All the Oke forwards worked tirelessly and with great determination, creating the perfect platform for two more tries before half time, for Will Cunningham and Greg Haste. 

At half time, at 11am, all the U13s and U14s players lined up on the front pitch, to honour the Remembrance Sunday silence, with great respect.  Newton Abbot came out fighting in the second half, but were met with a wall of solid defence and aggressive, but disciplined tackling, denying them any points in the game, despite all their efforts. 

Okehampton's continued pressure led to a well deserved hat-trick for Greg Haste in the corner, while ever hardworking Barnaby Waddell powered his way through Newton Abbot's defence to round off the game with a try of his own.  Conversions came from James Close (1) and Joshua Burgoyne (2). 

This was another superb team performance, which saw solid forward play, slick running from the backs, great interlinking support play, and real determination from the outset.