Devon trophy

Okehampton firsts 3

ISCA C 2

ON Sunday Okehampton started their defence of the the Devon Trophy with this first round tie.

The home side started well and dominated the game by keeping the structure in the midfield. It took a while to break the deadlock against the team at the bottom of the division below but man of the match Andrew Paterson latched on to a stop from the keeper and slotted the ball in between the goalkeeper’s legs.

ISCA were a stubborn opposition and Okehampton’s flurry of chances and missed short corner opportunities were to be punished when a deflected shot from an ISCA forward ballooned into the corner of the goal to equalise.

The second half started where it ended with Okehampton dominating. Finally with a tactical change on the short corner routine, Oke had their reward with a strike by Luke Miller into the bottom corner of the net.

Just when the home side were thinking about opening the floodgates they let the visitors mount an attack and they were awarded a penalty flick as an Oke defender illegally intercepted the ball with his hand as it was heading into the net. Isca levelled from the spot and the Okehampton defender was lucky to remain on the pitch.

Cup games are always a good leveller and Oke, the stronger side on paper, started to panic and their structure began to falter. Jack Watson was working hard in the midfield to keep the shape and Chris Luxton playing up front was doing his best to play within an unfamiliar system. There were still plenty of chances and it always looked like there was always going to be another goal.

A quick break into the visitors D and an illegal tackle from the ISCA defender was rewarded with a penalty flick which was confidently slotted home by Luke Miller. There was nervous tension on the sideline from injured captain Luke Liversidge as he barked orders to his tiring team. Isca sensed another goal but Okehampton held out to win on to the quarter finals.