Carlsberg South West Peninsula division one East

Ottery St Mary 3

Okehampton Argyle 3

OKEHAMPTON put on a spirited comeback to gain a share of the spoils at Washbrook Meadows but this was a game they should have won. They had 75% of the possession but failed to convert this dominance into a victory.

Despite Argyle making the early running, Ottery took the lead after ten minutes when they got round the back of the visitors' defence. Keeper Chris Dearing did well to parry the first shot but Dan Norman followed up to score. Ottery increased their lead in the 25th minute when a long left wing cross from Paul Beacham deceived Dearing and the ball floated over his head and into the net.

Argyle came back and looked dangerous down the left with Luke Alden outpacing the home defence, but a goal would not come and too often the final pass went astray. Right on half time, a right wing cross was deftly back-heeled past the home keeper by Alden but cleared off the line and Adam Mortimer's follow-up effort was also forced off the line.

Argyle continued to force the pace after the break and Alden broke through on the left only to see his shot saved by the home keeper. As the Argyle midfield began to tire brought on substitute Steve Madge after 15 minutes in place of Argyle's Luke Alden and Madge contributed greatly to Okehampton's fightback.

With 20 minutes left, Agnew replaced Steve Kinsey with Will Hawking who scored with his first touch. Following on to a long through ball, Hawking took the ball past the home keeper and fired home into an empty net.

However Okehampton looked down and out after 70 minutes when a headed clearance from James Williams fell straight to Ottery's Ben Vine who drove the ball home from 25 yards.

In a match full of incident, Argyle's Matt Mortimer was sent off for a second yellow card and Argyle brought on Dale Chadwick for Corey Burns to bolster the three man defence. The ten men showed tremendous courage in continuing to force Ottery back and with six minutes left, the home keeper fumbled a through ball and Ed Squire followed up to reduce the arrears.

As Argyle pulled out all the stops to save the game, Will Hawking burst through the Ottery defence on the right with two minutes remaining and fired in a low cross which was swept home by Adam Mortimer.