Western Counties West
Okehampton 10
Kingsbridge 17
ON a bitterly cold afternoon at Oaklands these two teams warmed the sizeable crowd with a thoroughly entertaining game.
The referee also played his part in letting the game flow. The game started brightly with the Okes kicking down the slope into a stiffish wind and they took the game to their higher placed visitors.
Although both sides saw a fair bit of the ball, it was Okehampton that enjoyed the lion's share of possession in the red zone as they looked to opening the scoring. The first moment of controversy came during this period as winger, Rory Honeychurch, chased a through kick to win the race to touchdown. However the referee deemed the ball to be knocked on.
It was Kingsbridge who opened the scoring when the home side were penalised for not rolling away and the visiting fly-half, Newman, slotted the kick. The Okes continued to press and try chances were being created and spurned on numerous occasions, the worst when the ball was knocked on with the try line begging – ultimately the Okes profligate nature would be their demise.
The first half finished increasingly end to end as countless turnovers from both sides gave numerous attacking opportunities but there were no further scores during this period as Okehampton trailed 0-3 in a game they should have been leading.
The second period started with the visitors pressing the Okes line and they increased their lead when they were awarded a penalty try after Tom Powell knocked-on with the visitors having a three on one overlap – Newman converted.
The Okes were still holding the upper hand in the tight but their inability to retain possession in the loose was hindering any chance of concerted pressure. They got on the score sheet on the hour mark when fly-half, Poynton, converted a penalty after Rory Honeychurch was taken out late. Five minutes later and Kingsbridge extended their lead when some poor defending from Okehampton culminated in Kingsbridge prop Jason Putt trundling over under the posts, leaving an easy conversion for Newman.
On the 68th minute though Okehampton were back in it following an opportunistic try from scrum-half Friend, found a gap following a scrum on halfway, he burst through to dot down next to the posts. Poynton converted to get the Okes to within seven points.
The final 12 minutes continued in a ding dong battle with neither side able to mount any real try scoring opportunities. The Okes did come closest in the last couple of plays as they were camped on the visitors five metre line but the final whistle blew as the ball was knocked on by the Okes in one brief moment that summed up the other 80 minutes!
n This week the Okes travel to Newquay Hornets, kick-off 2.30pm.
Exeter Saracens 27
Okehampton 10
AGAINST a Saracens side that threw the ball about despite the dark, moist, conditions overhead and underfoot; Oke never got started until it was too late. Poor ball retention, scrappy line outs and a defensive organisation and alignment that was non existent, ultimately meant dissapointing defeat yet again on the road.
The first quarter was mainly the host's as they tested Oke's defensive mettle. They took the lead with a penalty which was soon levelled through the boot of Oke fly half Poynton after a rare foray into home territory.
Things then started to go badly wrong as weak defence allowed the home fly half to step and cross near the uprights for the first of three soft first half tries. The conversion was added and another try followed shortly after. Okes' defenders were getting uneccessarily sucked in, and lack of cover coming across to support, resulted in a corner try for home winger Light. The conversion was missed, but still Oke put pressure on themselves by gifting possession to the home side through turnovers or poor tactical kicking.
Then Oke reached their low point as from a set scrum, the visitors defence failed to cover across and players left it to each other to close the defensive gaps; which never happened. This allowed the home scrum half a soft try as he ran in unopposed through a shellshocked Okes defence. The conversion was added to make it 22-3 at the break to Saracens.
Oke made changes, with Bruce Griffiths entering the fray and having an immediate impact. Virtually the whole second 40 minutes was based around the home side's 22. Oke got a penalty try from a pushover, converted by Poynton, and should have had more. Total domination in this area forced the hosts to persistantly infringe.
However the Okes still looked destined for a late bonus point as they monopolised possession. To Saracen's credit they defended stoutly, with time ticking away Oke had yet another five metre scrum and they drove forwards once more. Significantly, this advantage up front did not pay with points.
The Saracens scored their fourth try with vitrually their only foray into the Okes' territory in the second half.