Tavistock RFC U11s 0

Plymstock U11s 31

IN hot conditions the first half was extremely competitive with Joe Burbage and John Lord leading the Tavistock pack and Jason Blake and Zac Gorton putting in some great tackles.

Unfortunately Tavistock failed to look after the ball, losing it too many times in the breakdowns but holding them back in defence with their strong tackling skills. It was a tremendous effort to be 0-0 at half time.

It looked like the first team to break the dead lock would go on and win and this proved to be the case with Plymstock running in five tries in the second half with no response from Tavistock.

There were positives for Tavistock with new arrivals James Paxman and Alex Bury playing really well and Archie Allen, Cian Benny and Luke Lewandowski developing their skills. Jacob Staig looked good in the role of scrum half and George Kaharas showed good handling skills. Tom Pearson put in the best runs and was first to the ball leading him to be player of the match for Tavistock. In the second friendly match, the score was one try each and Tavistock improved with Jack Smyly getting the try for Tavistock and Lochlan Fulton kicking a great conversion.

n OKEHAMPTON U10s entered two sides in the Exeter Saracens 40th anniversary rugby tournament, finishing as winners and runners-up.

Some outstanding individual and team performances led to some very entertaining and flowing rugby, on what was a hot and tiring day for the players.

The Oke Pinks team containing: Joshua Burgoyne, Will Cunningham, Saul Holliday, Cole Pengelley, Barnaby Waddell, Daniel Tomkins, Daniel Wonnacott, James Close, Jordan Hill and Joshua McCulloch ended as tournament winners. Scoring a combined total of 29 tries and only conceding 1 try throughout the day.

The Oke Violets containing: Jake Laing-Taylor, Harry Laing-Taylor, James Stevens, Liam Daintree, Hayleigh Shaw, Robert Whitby, Matthew Denning,Sonny Luxton, Joshua Parsons, George Cox and Charlie Glanville finished as runners-up.

They put in one of the performances of the day with a very hard fought victory over Barnstaple playing with real conviction and meaning.

The whole of Oke's squad and parents deserve credit for supporting this tournament and putting on a great display of rugby.

n OKEHAMPTON U9s played at the Exeter Saracens last Sunday in their first fixture of the new rugby season. Oke played four matches starting with a defeat against Ivybridge by 6 tries to 1 with Theodore Jackson Clist the Oke scorer.

Against the hosts Saracens Okehampton lost 7 tries to 0.

The third match, against a second Ivybridge team, saw an improvement in the Okes performance. Dillon Nicholas scored the first try, Theodore again scored a great try, closely followed by another. Oliver Johns made a superb run with the ball to score the fourth - to make it 4 tries to 1 to Okehampton.

In their final match against Brixham they won 6 tries to none. Oliver Johns scored again, as did Theodore who scored a further three tries. Edward Luke used his speed and agility to touch down the final try.

Tavistock U9s 1 try

Plymstock U9s 6 tries

Tavistock kicked off their season against a strong Plymstock side with Lily, Logan, Billy, Oscar and Marcus all making their debuts.

It was a tough start for Tavistock as Plymstock went into a 2-0 lead straight away. However through strong tackling from Isaac, Jacob and Ewan, the team began to compete.

Toby, Tom and Billy carried the ball well and ran with purpose and aggression. William passed to Toby who fed Billy for the first try of the season. Plymstock struck back twice to leave it 4-1 at half time.

In the second half Tavistock played a lot better with some good link up play through Oscar and Isaac, supported by Jonathan and Katherine. Logan and Ewan got stuck in a lot more and tireless running from Toby and Tom was held by some good tacking from Plymstock. In the end the score was 6 -1, which was a bit harsh on Tavistock who never gave up and had a lot of ball.

n THE North Okes U8s were invited to Exeter Saracens 40th anniversary celebrations and took part in mini tag rugby festival.

The hot weather did not stop the young North Okes play a superb brand of open flowing rugby.

The first game was against Barnstaple which Okehampton won 6 tries to 4, the scorers were Alex, Ethan (2), Marcus (2) and Aedan. Okehampton's superior tagging brought them out on top.

The second game Brixham they won 6 tries to 2 in a much more open match in which the Okehampton team spread the ball wide and exploited the gaps in Brixham defence. The Oke scorers were Ethan (3), Joe, Josh and Marcus .There was some excellent tagging by Holly, Isaac and Milo.

The last match was against Exeter Saracens who like North Okes had won all there previous games. In a terrific match Exeter's won by 5 tries to 4. Credit goes to all the players who took part including the three captains for the day Ethan, Alex and Finlay.