Carlsberg South West Peninsula division one West

Okehampton Argyle 1

Vospers Oak Villa 1

OKEHAMPTON put in a battling performance against the team lying second in the table and fully deserved their point from this match.

Vospers are a powerful side with forwards who are strong in the air and this put the shorter Argyle back four under pressure early on, but they rose to the challenge and kept the visitors out with keeper Harry Geering in commanding form.

As the half wore on, Argyle began to take control of the game and troubled Vospers with their breaks out of defence using the speed of their front three of Steve Williams, Brad Ausden and Steve Madge. A lovely move saw Ed Squire in a good position but unable to get any power behind his shot, and after 25 minutes, Ausden controlled the ball well in the box before firing against the visitors' post.

On 32 minutes Okehampton took the lead when a lovely move across the width of the field set Steve Madge racing into the Vospers' box where he was taken down by a defender for a clear penalty. Up stepped James Williams to place a perfect spot kick past Vospers' keeper Andy Barnes which saw Okehampton go in at half-time with a well deserved lead.

Argyle started the second half where they had left off, and the home supporters thought Argyle should have had another penalty when they claimed Ed Squire was taken down just inside the visitors' box, but the referee saw otherwise. Shortly after, Steve Williams beat three men wide on the left, but his cross was too deep to trouble the Vospers' defence.

As the half progressed however, it was Vospers who started to take control and the home defence came under some considerable pressure. They held out bravely until the 73rd minute when Nick Souness turned the home defence and fired a cross in deep from the left which Robbie Priddle turned home from ten yards.

The pressure was really on Argyle now and shortly after, a header bounced on the top of Geering's crossbar before the keeper did well to block a shot from point blank range; Argyle kept going and still looked dangerous on the break. The game was on a knife edge right up to the final whistle, but neither side could make the breakthrough that would give them all three points.

In a tough physical but fair game, all the Okehampton squad stepped up to the mark and represented their town with pride. The back four kept things tight all afternoon and the midfield of Ricky Wooldridge, Ed Squire and Alex Wren battled for every ball and did not allow the visitors' midfield to settle.

Man of the match went to Alex Wren for a skilful and tremendously competitive performance.