Penryn First XV 35

Okehampton First XV 24

THE visitors got off to the worst possible start when the kick-off was returned into touch on the full. Penryn won the resultant lineout and after the ball had been recycled a couple of times the home prop crashed over under the posts after some fairly flimsy defence. The conversion was a formality and Okehampton were 7-0 down after sixty seconds.

On thirteen minutes the hosts' lead had been doubled. An Okehampton attack broke down when the ball was spilled forward. Penryn counter-attacked from deep and after more indifferent defence their centre dotted down near the sticks. Another simple conversion was potted and the Okes had serious work to do.

The visitors' pack then began to assert itself, being entirely dominant at scrum-time and following a Penryn offside after a knock-on, Carl Poynton struck a beautiful 35 metre penalty straight between the sticks to reduce the deficit by three points. This was immediately followed by a flowing miss-move by Okehampton that saw the ball shipped swiftly to Craig Dennis on the left flank.

Showing both speed and strength, he crashed through the final defender to score in the corner. Another flawless Poynton strike saw the ball bisect the uprights and the visitors were right back in it at 14-10 after twenty-five minutes.

A catch and drive routine saw Penryn score their third try which was well converted to make the score 21-10. However, there was still time in the first period for the visitors' backs to open up again. A quick tap penalty saw the ball shipped wide where full-back Luke Honeychurch was in acres of space to score near the touchline on the left. Poynton again added the extras and half-time came with the score at 21-17 to the hosts.

The second period began with Okehampton benefitting from the slope but playing into the firm breeze. However, their cause was not helped when fly-half Poynton had to leave the field injured. This seemed to trigger a panic attack for the visitors. They were unable to retain possession for any sustained period of time and found it difficult to break the gain line.

Home fly-half Dave Pascoe was using the breeze well and after sixty minutes Penryn scored again when another catch and drive saw the ball popped to the blind-side winger who scored near the posts. The conversion brought the score to 28-17.

The game was over as a contest ten minutes later when a high kick out defence was not dealt with by the visitors.

More sloppy tackling saw the home winger score at the corner and the extras were added to make the score 35-17.

There was still time for Okehampton's livewire flanker Simon Cox to go over for a final score, converted by Craig Dennis with the referee bringing the game to an end immediately afterwards at 35-24.

Much to consider then for the Okes' as they prepare for the visit of unbeaten St Austell to the Showfield on Saturday. Kick off is at 3pm.