Friendly

Exmouth seconds 21

Okehampton seconds 10

FOLLOWING a comprehensive defeat at home earlier in the season, Okehampton seconds travelled to the south coast for this merit table encounter against one of the county's strongest outfits.

Bouyed by a large match day squad , the early exchanges were evenly contested although a penalty indiscretion gave the hosts a 3-0 lead after no more than five minutes.

The response from the visitors was immediate and saw the Okes dominate the rest of the first half for long periods. Excellent play through the phases, be it all against a stubborn and well drilled defence, got its just rewards when George Baker forced his way over for an unconverted try.

At this stage Okehampton were playing by far the better rugby with impressive interplay and offloads keeping the pressure on the hosts. However, much against the run of play, Exmouth scored two quick tries.

The first was after a mix up in the goal area with their number eight dropping on the loose ball. The second came after an efficient line out catch and drive after the Okes had given a penalty away while in a attacking position only to find themselves little more than five metres from their line.

The visitors could feel hard done by the 15-5 score line at half time. The second half, however, proved a frustrating affair for the visitors and although another period of pressure resulted in a try from the ever improving Alex Slater to bring the game back to 15-10 , this was as close as the Oke got towards turning the game around .

The changes were rung to make best use of fresh legs but despite some further superb play, which in two cases saw play and offloads of the highest order taking the Okes the length of the pitch, the final acts were penalised with the hosts clearing their lines.

The last quarter became a frustrating affair with Exmouth kicking two late penalties to put the game to bed for a final score of 21-10.

Okehampton probably deserved more from this game but nevertheless the closeness of the contest is testimony to the massive improvement the second XV have made as the season has progressed. Previous heavy losses are now been turned into closely fought encounters and, in some cases, results reversed with the side sitting mid league in a competitive merit table with the decision to take the promotion from last season being more than vindicated.

The Okehampton first XV game at home was cancelled as the pitch was frozen and unplayable.