North/Okes U16s 60

Bideford U16s 5

NORTH Okes took the lead in the 10th minute following a period of pressure after the Bideford kick-off failed to go 10 metres.

Conor Stevens eventually finishing the move for George Courtier to convert. It was all one way traffic in the first half and Conor increased the Oke lead on 25 minutes with a try wide out on the left. Throughout Bideford struggled with the pace and power of Conor. Robbie Griffiths was next on the score sheet with the first of his hat-trick when he capitalised on a fine break from Oli Francis to dot down in the corner. It became 24-0 after half an hour when Dan V finished off a forwards drive and George converted. Dan V completed his brace following fine work in midfield from Oli and Conor to make it 31-0.

Several changes at half time did not change the direction of the game as Lewis Taylor strolled over in the 50th minute, George C converting. Ten minutes later, Robbie scored his second following a well worked backs move to score in the corner. Rhys Palmer capitalised on an error in the backline to fly hack through and win the race for the line for the next try. Robbie completed a fine hat-trick when he crossed the whitewash wide out on the left. Jack Davey kicked the difficult conversion to make it 55-0.

Bideford gained a consolation in the 70th minute when North Okes ran out of defensive cover wide on the left. It was the home side who finished the scoring with a fine solo effort from Rhys, which completed a marvellous victory in which they thoroughly outplayed their opponents.

Honiton U15s 26

Okehampton U15s 19

A reduced Okehampton side hit by injuries travelled to Honiton this week.

Played on the main pitch which has a severe slope the Oaks are asked to play up the hill for the first half.

Although the game was pretty well balanced in terms of possession Honiton's Fly Half took advantage of some lazy tackling

And managed to run in three trys to lead 21 – 0 at half time.

Oakie were aware that the slope on the pitch meant that score was not insurmountable and threw themselves at Honiton in the second half. Tallun Burns ran in his first competitive try for the club to start the scoring for Oakie. Swiftly followed by a massive run of a full 50 metres by Ben Arnold. A move finished off by Brandon Horn.

A mix up at the back allowed Honiton to pull back one score, but Brandon Horn ran in another just before the close. Jacob Horn added the extra points for Oakie who ended on the losing side 26-19.

Tavistock U14s 19

Exeter Saracens U14s 17

TAVISTOCK U14s were given a tough game by a much improved Exeter Saracens side, who they had beaten by 50 points at the beginning of the season.

Saracens scored the first try after strong driving play from their forwards, which was unconverted. Tavistock found their rhythm in the later stages of the first half and were unlucky that strong runs from Ben Milligan and Richard Cann went unrewarded.

The pressure from the home side told in the end and quick thinking from George Hillson at the base of the scrum saw him scamper in for a try under the posts, which he converted.

A fired up Saracens side started the second half with a try straight from the kick off after strong running from their number eight.

Tavistock bounced back and after securing good possession in their opponents 22 a switch move between Ethan Lamerton and George Hillson saw George score his second try under the posts, which he again converted. Tavistock started to get the upper hand in the loose play and superb tackling from Ethan Lamerton saw him tackle and get back to his feet to turn ball over on numerous occasions.

Will Gardiner worked tirelessly chasing and tackling the Saracens backline, throughout the game. Number eight Theo Cousins stood out harassing and battling the opposition for the ball.

The extra possession led to a score from Ben Milligan and after good passing from backs and forwards he ran in to score in the corner.

Saracens made a late rally and they scored in the right hand corner. Fortunately for Tavistock though they were unable to convert and this was the last play of the game

Okehampton U14s 41

Bideford U14s 0

THE score line might seem flattering to the home side as the visitors

from North Devon made Okehampton work for every point.

Oke found themselves with a battle up front and at times made some basic errors but kept putting the pressure on the away team.

Bideford were unlucky not to get on the score sheet in the second half but a committed defence ensured they didn't cross the line. Harry Elliot playing at outside centre had a good game both in defense and attack scoring twice.

George Jeffery and Daniel Van Staden scored their first tries for their club. Other try scorers were Daniel Thorne (2) and Jack Dickinson. Luke Daniels and Kyle playing their first game for the club and did extremely well.

Honiton U13s 5

Okehampton U13s 43

WITH only 13 players and up against a full fifteen, this was the Okehampton team's first win of the season at their third attempt.

Playing up the slope they went 12-0 up after only ten minutes with two good scores from the outstanding Greg Daniel and Leon Horn, who converted his own score.

Unsurprisingly, two players light and playing up a significant gradient, Oke were always likely to have spells on the back foot. It was from the home side's only real spell of sustained pressure that they reduced the arrears after a forward based rumble initiated by a tap penalty move.

Okehampton turned around 12-5 ahead and began to move the ball nicely through the hands to test the home side's defence out wide. The impressive Ollie Ardon was next over the line in the left corner. This was followed by two superb individual scores from backs Leon Horn, and Kieran Atherton slotting in nicely in the number ten role. Conversions were added by Kieran Atherton and Corey Holliday.

In the last quarter Greg Daniel bulldozed over for another try and the last word went to prop Ethan Hoggins who picked up and drove over from close range for the last try, which he also converted.

This was a fine performance from the boys, who are slowly coming into some form. An addition of some new players would greatly enhance their chances though, so any interested players please make yourself known!

South Molton U12s 5

Okehampton U12s 35

IN sticky conditions Okehampton rose to the challenge and started as they meant to go on.

With the pressure on South Molton tried to hand off and gave away a penalty to allow Nathan to score the first try.

Player rotation caused loss of continuity but this is an important part of team play, ensuring that there is a substitute player to cover where ever necessary. However, players showed their versatility to make the team, pulled together and kept the tries coming.

Good footwork and determined running lines with sound passing saw tries scored by George, Brad S, Daichi and Jim who caught the ball running and scorched down the wing. New player Tom Dennis showed his potential for the future.

Persistence finally paid off for South Molton when they caught Okes' forwards napping during a ruck and slipped over the try line.

All the visitors' tries were successfully converted for an easy win for Okehampton.

South Molton U11s 0

Okehampton U11s 75

GOOD handling by the backs and some ruthless tackling paved the way for an 11 try rout from the young Oke side.

This was a excellent team performance by Okes with free flowing passing and everyone playing their part. Up front Dan Tomkins, Jake Laing-Taylor and James Stevens all put in good workman like performances, with Dan making some useful carries. Saul Holiday and Cole Pengelly had solid games in the second row with the latter scoring a trio of well taken tries.

Saul Holiday and Harry Laing-Taylor both had strong tackling games around the field. Joshua Burgoyne kept the tempo flowing from scrum half bagging two tries and five conversions.

James Close and Charlie Glanville linked well in mid field with slick handling and covering a lot of ground between them.

Daniel Wonnacott, George Cox and Robert Whitby all had steady games at fullback and on the wings with some good support play. Josh McCulloch put in a commanding performance at outside centre scoring two tries and making some great tackles. Molton tried to rally in the second half using their big forwards but the Oke`s defensive play was outstanding keeping the hosts at bay and the score board at nil.

Okehampton tries: Josh McCulloch 2, Joshua Burgoyne 2, Daniel Tomkins 2, Harry Laing-Taylor, Cole Pengelly 3 and James Stevens. Conversions: Joshua Burgoyne 5, Daniel Wonnacott 3 and James Close 2.

Okehampton U10s 5

Bideford U 10s 45

OKEHAMPTON were looking to make progress on their steady start to the season, but quickly found themselves behind on the scoreboard.

Jay Jenkins and Ryan Smaridge were prominent with some strong and direct running, but Bideford held strong.

Just before half time, Theodore Jackson-Clist was able to unlock the opposition defence and scored a well deserved try. Edward Luke was an outstanding player with some exceptional last ditch defence and some superb and nimble tackling. Bideford were the winners 45-5 but the Okehampton can take away a lot of positives from this match.

Okehampton U8s 9 tries

Bideford U8s 10 tries

THE quick tempo from the visitors kept Okehampton on their toes throughout the match.

Captained by Shea, who scored one try, Oke never gave up and the score shows how evenly matched the teams were. The constant tagging and passing close to both try lines made an exciting game.

Lachlann for Oke made a determined run, was tagged, passed to Saul who scored his try. William dodged the Bideford players for almost the length of the pitch also scored. Adam was often in the thick of it and scored six tries. Korben and Callum were tagging well and were always there to back up their team mates.

Okehampton U8s 12 tries

Bideford U8s 1 try

THIS was a fast game with Bideford tagging well but Oke's Korben also doing his best to tag them too. Saul made a good pass to Callum who scored and another well placed pass came from Shea to Callum for a second. A lot of good passes and tagging were seen in this game. Everyone worked hard with two tries scored by Lachlann, William, Saul 3, Shea 3 and Adam.

Okehampton U8s 12 tries

Bideford U8s 9 tries

OKEHAMPTON were captained by Jacob and with Ben, Alex, Josh B, Toby and Callie they stalled the opposition. Two tries were scored by Ben, Alex 6 and Toby 4. Invaluable backup came from Dan and Josh C.

Okehampton U8s 9 tries

Bideford U8s 9 tries

BIDEFORD were hot on their tagging but Oke kept working hard. Oke tries Dan 2, Josh B 2, Alex 3, and Toby 2. Great teamwork was provided by Callie, Josh C, Jacob and Ben.

Archie G and Archie S played for Bideford to make up their numbers.

Okehampton U7s 12 tries

Bideford U7s 9 tries

BIDEFORD arrived at Okehampton with only five players. Even though Bideford were by far the stronger team at the beginning of the game with some superb passing  they were unable to keep up with the faster Oke runners.

Cain had the first try for Oke and covered the distance of the pitch. Max B and  Oliver worked well together with a succession of tags and Matthew made some determined runs.

Tries were scored by Cain (4), Matthew (2) and Oliver, Harry (2), Max B (2) and Callum.

Okehampton U7s 6 tries

Bideford  U7s 8 tries

OKEHAMPTON were a lot stronger in defence but the visitors still had the edge. Freddie, Billy and Thomas Jake did some impressive tagging to prevent the opposition from scoring. Grady ran from one end of the pitch to the other and scored four tries, he was backed up by Max J  and Cameron who scored one a piece.

n KELLY College rugby teams produced some outstanding displays and some equally impressive results. Their first XV were in action in the first round of the Devon Cup against Colyton Grammar. Almost straight from the whistle Kelly began to accumulate an insurmountable lead to win 62-10, and a place in the next round.

The Kelly U15s faced Shebbear. The Kelleians put in a superb display that demonstrated a wealth of attacking options. They put 62 points on the board to secure a comfortable victory. However, what made this result all the more striking was that the Kelleians' defence matched their offensive. They offered few chances to their opposition and remained unbreached throughout the entire game.

n MOUNT House School were dominated by Plymouth College in the early stages but the defence not only held firm for a long period before the visitors opened the scoring. However Joe Beck's mazy run ended in an equalising try. The conversion by Jonty Walliker gave Mount House a slender 7-5 half time lead.

Mount House began the second half well when skipper Alex D'Entrecasteaux powered over. After stealing the opposition ball at a line-out. Plymouth pushed to level the scores, but were repeatedly thwarted by some superb tackling, particularly from Marcus Watson and Harry Sale. Continued pressure from Plymouth finally earned its reward as they scored to make it 12-12.