Honiton U16s 17

Okehampton U16s 17

OKEHAMPTON made the tough trip to Allhallows and came away with a more than honourable draw with a performance that encapsulated their passion and team spirit.

Both sides were struggling to cope with the muddy conditions as players found difficulty with their footing. The game was even with both sides counter-attacking well through errors rather than good play.

Playing down the slope, it was Okehampton that opened the scoring midway through the first half through a fine individual try by Rhys Palmer on the right with a jinking run.

The game remained finally balanced as both sides fought out a war of attrition in midfield.

The visitors suffered a blow right on half-time when a home centre intercepted on halfway to gallop home under the posts, making the extras inevitable. Oke nearly regained the lead with the last play of the half but Palmer's fine cross-field kick just could not be kept in play by winger Declan Coyle.

The visitors were reduced to 14 at the interval as Richie Hann had to succumb to concussion and would play no further part in the game. With no subs, captain, Ryan Gross made the huge decision to decline the offered Honiton player, thus still keeping the league game a contest.

Okehampton went further behind ten minutes into the half to a try that went unconverted.

The visitors reduced the arrears to two points when the Okes stole a line out on the home five metre line and their drive punched a massive hole in the Honiton defence for Dan Vinnicombe to score.

Honiton went ahead by seven points again following with a further try.

But Oke dug deep and showed all their heart and fight to gain the equalising score with the last play of the game.

After a period of concerted pressure in which the home side conceded several penalties it was the final one of these that Rhys Palmer made the clean break to skip through under the posts. Lewis Taylor tied up the score with a fine conversion.

The draw was the fair result but Okehampton had shown tremendous strength in adversity to pull together and gain a positive result against a much bigger side.

Tavistock seconds 36

Plymstock and Arguam Oaks 0

THIS was a free flowing game with a real team performance by Tavistock.

Alec slotted into a new position at full back while Harvey orchestrated play well from stand off with good choices to spread the ball. Joe looked slick and fast on the wing while Joe S really took the Oaks on in close quarters and still fed the ball back.

Tavistock were not too secure in the maul but the scrummaging was superb. Plymstock never gave up and seem to be rapidly improving. The game was well played by both teams.

Brixham 14

Tavistock seconds 21

IN this physical game Tavistock came out with a narrow, but well deserved win. Brixham did not give an inch and are a formidable team. Tavistock needed all their defensive stubbornness to hold the line.

In the dying minutes Tavistock were determined to win and scored three excellent tries from Charlie, Tom and Angus. The latter was a superb example of two players Tom and Angus demonstrating passing interplay, with Angus's support play paying dividends.

Captain Charlie led by example while Tavistock kicker Matt scored three out of three and with it secured the match. Credit to Brixham who never gave up.

North Dorset U15s girls 5

Tavistock U15s girls 22

HAVING made a long journey to Dorset a young and unproven Tavistock girls team played North Dorset.

Tilly and Kelly played their first games for Tavistock while Lily Hillson and Lizzie Crocker led from the front with some great tackling and this encouraged Chloe, Lily and Alice to  start running at the opposition.

Lizzie and Lily M scored as the visitors led 12-0 at half time

In the second half, Eleanor and Emma both made some good tackles and Lydia, Rosie  and Chloe did really well with ball in hand. Lily M scored two more to make the final score 22-5. Player of the match for Tavistock Chloe D.

Plymstock U14s 10

Tavistock U14s 88

ALMOST directly from the kick-off Tavistock fielded the ball and fed winger Will Partington, who showed the defence a clean pair of heels to score under the posts. George Hillson quickly added a second after a darting run.

Tavistock started to go up through the gears with their forwards securing good ball and their backs looking to run at every opportunity. Quick passing and incisive running from Bernie Sadler, Ben Milligan and George Hillson freed Ethan Lamerton at outside centre to score three tries in quick succession.

Steve Kirby, Theo Cousins and Will Gardiner commanded the break down area and they turned over ball for Will Partington to score his second after a mazy running. Ben Milligan added another following a looping move.

The Tavistock front five of Greg Cotterell, Chris Watts, Harry Jeans, Scott Morris and Ben Luke carried good ball and scrummaged strongly. Dan Willis was secure under the high ball and his elusive running and passing skills caused Plymstock difficulties all game. Before the end of the first period scrum half George Hillson used his pace and footwork to score a pair of individual tries wide out. Ethan Lamerton drove over for his fourth try before Will Partington rounded off a flowing backs move, which completed the half and his hat-trick. Hillson kicked seven conversions.

Plymstock showed real spirit in the second half and a strong drive from the forwards secured good ball for their inside centre to crash over. The home side had all the possession for the first 15 minutes and were unlucky when they got turned over and Ben Milligan scored a try after Tavistock ran the length of the pitch. Will Partington then added another after Scott Morris and Matt Birch had secured good ruck ball. Plymstock fought back with a second well deserved try in the left hand corner.

The try of the game came after Hillson took a kick tap penalty on his own five metre line; he ran and side stepped his way into the opponents half before putting in a lofted over head pass to Lamerton who juggled the ball but managed to hang on and race clear to score under the posts. Will Partington converted.

Tavistock U13s 17

Plymstock Albion Oaks U13s 17

DESPITE the cold and wet conditions, it was clear from the outset that both teams were determined to play some quality rugby.

Good work by the Oaks forwards saw them hold early possession. Despite superb defensive tackles by Finn and Nathan, and a promising run by Reuben on the wing, the Oaks ran in their first converted try from a five metre scrum. Plymouth kept Tavistock under sustained pressure but Morgan, Bailey, Ed, Jasper, Ben and Soul in particular put in some superb tackles. However Plymouth ran in a second try to the corner but failed to convert.

Al's restart and solid hard work by the forwards gained Tavistock immediate possession. Great running rugby by Al, Ed, Finn, Ben, Bailey and Ruben narrowly missed a scoring chance with a foot in touch. However, a lovely break by Ben for Tavistock saw him in under the posts, safely converted by Al and at half time it was 12-7 to Plymstock.

Tavistock came out fighting with probing attacks and some great defensive tackling by Morgan and player of the match Ed Nettleship. Clean lineout ball saw Ruben breakout from deep to reach the Oaks' 22 with Finn in close support to receive and reach the corner from an excellent try.

Tavistock scored again from five metres out when demonstrating great skill and determination, the forwards charged through for Morgan to score a well-deserved try to take Tavistock into the lead.

With 10 minutes left the Oaks' pack put the Tavistock defence under serious pressure and won a penalty for holding 10m out. In a well coordinated forwards move the Oaks drove in one final try to end the match as an honourable draw.

Tavistock U10s 3 tries

Exeter U10s 8 tries

TAVISTOCK came up against the best junior team in their age group, Exeter Saracens, and played with great heart and promise.

They were soon 4-0 down before Toby B took the game by the scruff of the neck with a great try, terrific tackling and great leadership. Isaac, Ewan and Matthew followed with some great tackling as Tavistock secured more ball.

Despite a poor showing in the scrums, Logan was well supported by Katherine and Tom began to take the game to Exeter.

After Isaac's try it was 5 -2, but Exeter had strength in depth, size and pace. Tavistock never gave up and scored the best try of the game at the end following great work from Ben, William Ewan and Isaac

Tavistock U10s 3 tries

Exeter U10s 4 tries

TAVISTOCK maintained their second half form and ran Exeter very close. In this game Tavistock had more ball and Ewan, Matthew,  Jonathan, Jacob and Isaac all had good runs. Matthew scored his first try for the club and Tom had a great game. Toby and Isaac were the other scorers.

n THE Mount House School U9s played two rugby matches at home against St Petroc's, coming out on top in one, and narrowly losing the other.

In the U9 A rugby team game Mount House won by three tries to nil. Bajaber was the chief ball winner for Mount House while Spiers and Hine showed strength in tight play. Tries from Spiers, Simpson and Lamb won it for Mount House.

In the B team game Mount House lost 4-5 in tries. Smith made some good forward runs, supported by Barker and Cormack. Searle passed the ball out well when tagged. The pace of Lamb caused the opposition problems.