Torquay Athletic thirds 40

Okehampton seconds 34

OKEHAMPTON seconds travelled to a wet and windy Torquay looking to continue their recent winning habit .

In the forward department the hosts were a minimum of two stone a man heavier and in the early exchanges Okehampton were finding it hard to secure any meaningful possession. While ruck ball was relatively secure, any drive not taken to ground saw ball turned over at the maul on a regular basis.

Torquay put their size and weight advantage to good use when a line out catch and drive was shunted from 10 metres out for the first score .

Although possession was difficult to come by, one secure area was the lineout where Drake and Robinson were dominating. It was from this platform that Okehampton were able to launch some useful phases and with some deft handling they mounted a sustained period of pressure that saw scrum half Barry Down break the tackle to score with Wonnacott converting.

The initiative was maintained when centre Dean Andrew finished off another phase of impressive handling at which point the omens looked good but several maul turnovers later the hosts were allowed back into the game and muscled their way to the visitors' line for a converted try to level the score.

The tactic of moving the ball through the hands away from the hosts lumbering forwards resulted in the best try of the match when a quick tap penalty deep in their own half saw centre Buzz Brimacombe make the initial break and after some great interplay the ball moved swiftly out to Mark Gibb for the pacey wing man to run in for his first try for Okehampton.

Half time attention focused on getting the ball quickly to ground in contact to secure possession but within a minute of the restart possession was again stripped at the maul for the hosts to again level the scores.

This saw the hosts seize the initiative with big forwards slowing the game down, forcing Okehampton into a catalogue of errors and penalties and with their tails up they bullied their way to another three tries — all of which were converted.

It seemed like the visitors' wheels had well and truly come off but with 15 minutes remaining they restored some pride by again managing to keep the ball in hand and used the space that their pace was creating with three tries coming from Brimacombe, Stuart Benney and Jordan Lee — all of which were out wide and unconverted.

This was a game that Okehampton seconds could have and should have won even allowing for the size and weight miss match up front.

With the ball in hand the hosts had no answer to Okehampton but an accumulation of errors and penalties gave Torquay possession and the initiative from which some old heads were able to slow the game down and dictate proceedings.

Although a disappointing result this for Okehampton it should not detract from an excellent first half of the season. With good numbers there is now competition for places which is producing increasing strength in depth. This in turn has led to a number of players challenging for and being given first team opportunities which was one of the primary objectives reinvigorating the second team at the start of the season.