West Dorset 1

ONCE again it became apparent that the team would have to battle to prove its worth and stay in the league.

The team has shown such commitment this term and without the leadership of its captain Brett Lawson the fight for survival  would have been lost a long time ago.

As battle began the fighting was fierce. Okehampton's midfielders of Sam Whalley and Jack Lloyd on several occasions wrestled possession from the away side and charged the length of the pitch to setup chances for their forwards. A series of short corners for the home side were spurned, I have no doubt that this was down to nerves.

A short corner awarded to the away side was duly converted despite the best efforts of Tim Morgan who bravely tried to head the ball of the line.

With West Dorset taking the lead the pressure was increasing on the home side.

Chris Luxton came close to levelling the game as his snap shot was well saved. As the first half drew to a close Okehampton were awarded a short corner, and from the break down the ball was cleared out to the right hand side before Simon Bourne crashed the ball passed the stranded Dorset keeper from the edge of the area.

The second half started with the home side dominating play. John Jarvis was replaced at the Oke back by Alex Osman and alongside Mark Bingham had a steady game. Stuart Jarvis again was busy on the wing.

A great through ball from man of the match Sam Whalley picked out Chris Luxton who beat the keeper for pace, but the Dorset defender kicked the ball away!

Up stepped Sam Whalley who cooly converted the short corner with a delightful drag flick into the roof of the net to make it 2-1.

At the restart Dorset attacked but the shot on Hayden Bond's goal went wide of the post. 

Jack Watson replaced Luxton in the closing minutes and West fell apart as umpires Richard Jones and Pete Sim simultaneously yellow carded two West Dorset players.

As the weather turned from hail to snow Okehampton knew that their season rested on the next five minutes.

Captain Brett Lawson came close to putting the game beyond the away side with a reverse hit shot, but the ball sailed well wide. 

The final whistle went and the relief was clear to see on all the players.