Newton Abbot U15s 20

Okehampton U15s 26

ON a cold, snowy day Okehampton played a Newton Abbot side, who player for player were bigger than their West Devon visitors.

From the kick-off it looked like Oke would struggle as the opposition started to run straight at them. Tackling was at a premium, and the contact area was hard fought.

For the first ten minutes Newton Abbott continued to press but Oke's defence however held firm. The first scrum was met by the lighter Oke pack inside their 22, they held them off and from the base launched an attack that continued to roll upfield and into Newton Abbot's half.

Some fast hands from Okehampton put their backs within range and another fast move saw Jack Piper touch down in the corner. Jacob Horn added the extra points.

Newton Abbot continued to press and, through some poor defensive tackling, managed to break through to score two touchdowns. Luke Shinn then broke through to score for Oke to make it 12-10 to the visitors at half-time.

The second half saw Oke play some superb rugby and Luke Shinn scored again to complete a great hat trick. Jacob Horn again slotting two good touchline conversions.

A late flurry from Newton Abbott were rewarded with two late tries, but without the conversions they ended up 6 points short.

Tavistock U15s girls 5

Exeter Saracens U15s girls 19

TAVISTOCK are mainly at the younger end of the age-group, but show considerable talent, which together with a little more experience, will enable them to compete well against the strongest teams in Devon.

With an icy wind blowing, Exeter at the kick off grabbed possession from the loose and moved the ball well along the line. Stout defending from Tavistock's Lizzie Crocker and Tilly kept them out until the ball was kicked by Tavistock over the heads of the fast approaching Exeter line, directly to the South West full back, who sped down the right flank to score under the posts. Tavistock snuffed out any further attacks from this dangerous player.

Early in the game Tavistock's Jessica Tait, Lydia Roisetter and Anna Powell allowed the Exeter forwards to dominate but urged on by Chloe Dawe in the pack and Lilly Hillson in the backs, they began to muscle into the Exeter pack winning all scrums with the head and hooker Anna Powell taking two against the head.

With this marked improvement, Tavistock gained territory giving Lily Mills the opportunity to snipe in to score.

Lilly Hillson was sin-binned for a high tackle and an injury tipped the balance towards Exeter. The extra player and the improved Exeter possession led them to two more tries to seal the match.

Devonport U15s girls 24

Tavistock U15s girls 0

YOUNGER team members Rosie Crosby, Alice Mills-Hicks and Eleanor Mills carried the ball against much bigger opposition but were unable to break through.

Devonport with strength experience dominated the forward play in the first half and scored two tries.

Lily Mills at scrum half for Tavistock was relentless in testing the Devonport defence, but was taken off due to injury allowing two more tries to be scored in the second half.

This result, while disappointing for the town side, showed the real strength in the younger players within the team.

Ivybridge U14s 36

Tavistock U14s 24

IN freezing and snowy conditions, Tavistock U14s struggled to get going and were soon trailing a well-organised Ivybridge team.

Slick handling and good ball retention at the breakdown saw the home side score four tries inside the first half. Tavistock did manage to get on the scoreboard at the end of the half with a try from Ben Milligan.

Tavistock started the second half much brighter and on the occasion that they did secure good ball their backline looked to run. This led to scores for James Lewis and Bernie Sadler. Ivybridge, however, were in no mood to let the visitors back into this game and some further good linking play between forwards and backs led to them scoring two further tries.

Tavistock kept battling and managed to make the score a bit more respectable with Ethan Lamerton scoring after exchanging passes with Ben Milligan.

Tavistock U11s 21

Devonport Services

U11s 7

TAVISTOCK dominated the first half with patient rucking and wide back play stretching the Services' defence.

A great rip from Kiran Warner allowed the Tavistock backs to move the ball through the hands to winger Tom Scott for a try in the corner in the first minute. Two more tries for Henry Varndell-Dawes came after a clearing kick from services and quick reactions from a  tap and go penalty by Harry Edwards. All three were converted by fly half Edward Tait to make it 21-0 at half time.

Strong forwards work from Matt Davey and Ben McKenzie  kept Tavistock moving forward.

However, the second half Services came out fighting and and hard rucking and dominance in the set piece gave Services the upper hand pinning the home side in their own half.

James Kenyon, Ben Mckenzie, Kiran Warner and Noah Berridge all bravely attempted to inject some go forward ball for Tavistock but with little success.

To their credit Tavy defence held firm with some tough tackling from Olle Sampson, Jack Bellamy and James Roisetter keeping the score clean right up until the last minute when Services's pressure paid off with the last play of the match. It was a resilient second half from a Tavistock team under intense pressure from a big Services pack.

Oke U11s 42

Withycombe U11s 28

THE improving Okehampton pack began to gain the upperhand in the lineouts and scrums with Barnaby Waddell taking clean ball and making some big carries.

James Stevens scored one try and was accurate at the lineouts, while Sonny Luxton scrummaged with real purpose and made a bigger contribution around the field. In the second row Saul Holliday covered ground well and Cole Pengelley was involved in setting up the try of the game for the on-rushing James Close to take the ball at speed and touching down for his first of two tries. Joshua Burgoyne had a typically abrasive game at scrumhalf setting up two and scoring one try.

Centres Charlie Glanville Josh McCulloch linked up with some good handling in midfield with Joshua McCulloch being rewarded with two tries after some strong running. Robert Whitby and George Cox had steady games on the wings with George making good ground when on the attack.

Will Cunningham at fullback took some good high balls and tackled strongly.

This was an evenly matched game with the Withcombe flyhalf being on particularly good form. The referee allowed the game to flow suiting both sides and making it an excellent match to watch.

Tavistock U8s 12

Devonport

Services U8s 9

BOTH players and spectators braved freezing conditions this Sunday.

The first match kicked off with some great passing from Tavistock, exemplified by Ashley in the first half who made a superb pass to allow James to take a try. Devonport were more than a match in the first half. A further try from James, two for Harry and one apiece for Max and Seb for Tavistock left it level pegging at half time.

A change of players brought more superb passing from the home team. Matthew D scored three tries including a great run down the sideline following a pass from Ryan. Tavistock took full advantage of several handling errors from the visitors, allowing two tries from Luke and one from Billy.

Tavistock U8s 10

Devonport Services U8s 8

TAVISTOCK demonstrated better passing and tagging and despite some great play from Devonport the first half was again dominated by the home side.

Some effective dodging from Seb and a pass through to Ashley allowed him to score again.  Both Harry and James broke away for outstanding long runs to score two tries each.

In the second half Dylan impressed, scoring a try and two great runs and dummy passes that resulted in tries for Ryan and Luke. There were two further tries from Callum and Max.