SCRUM-half Richard Bolt darted in for a try in the last 10 minutes to give Okehampton a 28-27 win over Ivybridge in the opening round of pool games in the Devon Senior Cup.

It looked all over bar the shouting after an hour when Okehampton were 21-6 up – then the Bridge scored three tries in 10 minutes and converted all of them to go 27-21 up.

Back came Okehampton with a try from Bolt that Dan Fogerty converted to put the home side back in front after 74 minutes.

It got tense at the end as referee Adam Nicholls found eight minutes of stoppage time to add on. Okehampton held out despite finishing with two back-row forwards in the centre due to injuries sustained during the match.

Fogerty, the Okehampton captain said the forward pack redeemed itself after a lacklustre showing in the previous week’s league defeat by Devonport Services.

“Our forwards were superb and got us front foot ball, which was the opposite to last week in the scrum, and our domination won us the game,” said Fogerty.

“We should have finished the game off a lot earlier, but let Ivybridge back into it, which made it a nervous watch for the crowd.”

Matt Tichias, the former Ivybridge centre now player-coach at Okehampton, put away the home side’s first try which was created and converted by Dan Fogerty.

Matt Grieveson slotted two penalties to put Ivybridge within a point, but by the break full-back Ryan Lee crossed for Okehampton and Fogerty made it 14-6 with the extra points.

Okehampton had to reshuffle soon after the break when Lee was hurt in a tackle. Brandon Horn moved from centre to full-back with Tom McGrattan going from No.8 into midfield.

The disruption was minimal as replacement No.8 Saul Holliday promptly scored a push-over try for Okehampton that Fogerty improved by two points for a 21-6 lead after 56 minutes.

The home side had to make a further change when Tichias went off and the only option available was back-row forward Holliday, who slotted into the centre alongside McGrattan.

The Ivybridge revival started on the hour when Sam Furse slipped over the Okehampton line and Grieveson added the extras.

Grieveson’s conversion of a Charlie Groves try turned it into a one-point game at 21-20. But not for long. On 70 minutes Giles Clarke scored the third try in the sequence and Grieveson booted the Bridge into a 27-21 lead.

There was one more twist left in the game. On 74 minutes Ivybridge gave away a penalty in front of their posts. Bolt tapped to himself and scooted in under the posts to leave his side a point behind.

Fogerty jabbed over the kick for 28-27and that’s how it stayed.

Okehampton travel to rural Gloucestershire this Saturday to face South West One tail-enders Drybrook.

l OKEHAMPTON 2nd XV gave Tiverton 2nd XV plenty to think about before going down 26-17 in the newly launched Devon 2nd XV Cup.

Dan Thorne scored a first-half try under the posts and added a second after the break out wide.

Joe Mawle, who came on for his first run-out of the season, smashed his way through the defence on the way to what looked like a certain try when he was high-tackled on the line and a penalty try awarded.

“Unfortunately, we managed to give away a couple of interceptions and that killed us,” said Okey coach Steve Alford.

l SPEEDSTER Issy Edworthy scored five tries for Okehampton Ladies in their 47-17 win over Sidmouth.

Immy Ogborne , Tilly Cole (2) and Megan Nash were the other try scorers. Abi Knight kicked a conversion.

Sidmouth stuck at it and managed to score a couple of deserved tries at the end of the match

Steve Alford, who coaches the side, said: “The ladies have come a long way in the last 12 months and are improving at every step.”