After being in this contest for an hour, three late tries put paid to any hopes of an Okehampton win on Saturday.

Okes suffered another away defeat against a Brixham side that they beat at home in September.

The visitors were again forced to reshuffle their side. Captain and stand-off Dan Fogerty was a late withdrawal, and with scrum half Richard Bolt absent in Dubai, a new half-back pairing of Richie Friend and Leon Horn was on show.

Unfortunately, and typical of Okes injury luck this season, Friend would left the field after barely fifteen minutes through injury. He was joined on the sidelines later in the half by lock Brad Curtis.

After last week’s improved showing in the last gasp defeat to Camborne, Okes travelled with increased confidence.

After a tight first half in dry but bitter conditions, those hopes were undiminished. There was not much to choose between the sides in the first 40 minutes. An early Brixham try out wide opened the scoring before the returning Gary Sizmur, kicking in Fogerty’s absence, slotted a penalty to reduce the arrears.

Okes were giving as good as they got at this point; the scrum was improved and the lineout, although awry on occasions, was generally solid. Missed touches proved costly for the Maroon and Ambers though. One kicked dead when deep into the home twenty two, and another eventually led to a yellow for Okes full-back Kieran Lee and a resultant penalty that gave the hosts a narrow 8-3 at the changeover.

The second period began well for the Okes, Sizmur slotted another penalty to make it a two-point ball game.

The Okes then shot themselves in the foot shortly after. A missed tackle in midfield allowed a soft converted score to put Brixham in the ascendancy once more. Okes regrouped as the bench came on and another successful Sizmur kick brought them back within a score.

Things then went even better just minutes later. A clearance kick was hacked ahead by winger Cole Pengelly, another kick-on and a bounce upwards gave the pacy winger the chance to run home for a five-pointer to the right of the posts. The conversion was missed but it was now just a one-point ball game with a quarter of this close encounter remaining.

Unfortunately, as has often been the case over the last couple of campaigns, Okes slipped off the pace as the clock ticked away.

Penalty awards increased, another yellow card was suffered and straight-on tackles were falling off. The hosts took full advantage with three late scores. Home winger Crosscombe crossed twice more to gain his hat trick of tries and the Okes lost all chance of a losing bonus point, which seemed the least they would obtain just minutes earlier.

So Okes remain in a fight at the bottom of the table after another match that slipped from their grasp. Two consecutive home fixtures now follow, as Oke seek a change of fortune with Weston-Super-Mare, the visitors next Saturday at 2.30 pm. Your support would be really appreciated for this must-win encounter.

Come On You Okes!