Western Counties (West)

Newquay Hornets 7

Okehampton 22

IN one of only two games in Western Counties (West) to survive the current cold snap the Okes had high expectations of improving their league position with a bonus point victory.

In the end this expectation was realised but only after a disappointing second half performance in which niggle, needless chit-chat and punch-ups seemed to be the order of the day and went largely unpunished with no cards being shown by the official in charge.

The game kicked off in dry but dull conditions on a soft surface. Okehampton were playing into a slight breeze and their forwards immediately asserted themselves by starving Newquay of ball.

For the first 15 minutes Okehampton were winning virtually all possession although they did not quite know how best to use it in the difficult handling conditions. This was rectified on 16 minutes when a Newquay defensive clearance failed to find touch just inside their own half.

The ball was quickly moved from left to right where Kevin Dennis was given space to hand-off his man to go over in the corner and although the difficult conversion was missed, the visitors were five points to the good.

The lead was increased five minutes later with a classic Okes' try. The ball was moved across the pitch and then quickly back the other way. Full-back Luke Honeychurch cut a swathe through the home defence before passing on to brother Rory. When he was brought to ground less than five metres out the ball was recycled to prop Ian Langbridge who burrowed over. Carl Poynton kicked the extras to make it 12-0.

This heralded a period of home pressure that was well dealt with by the Okes' defence and gave them the oppotunity to launch a counter-attack with five minutes of the half remaining. Scrum-half Richard Friend, having another fine game, made the break from deep in his own territory. He moved the ball wide to Kevin Dennis and was then on hand to take the inside pass to scamper over to make it 17-0 at half-time.

The second half started with Okehampton making numerous substitutions, some forced, which did nothing to assist the continuity of their game. Possession became less steady for a while and during this period Newquay were able to put points on the board with a well executed catch and drive try by Tim Eustace, which was superbly converted by Chevy Reed.

The Okes then began to dominate possession again with number eight Steve Alford in imperious form. It was therefore fitting that following another sharp break by Richie Friend it was Alford who was able to control the ball at the back of the resultant scrum to give the Okes their winning bonus point and a 22-7 victory.

The game then degenerated into a verbal and physical fracas until the final whistle in the half-light.

This was a job done for Okehampton but Truro will provide a much sterner test this week.