South West one Okehampton 22

Teignmouth 5

IN a match that bore more than a passing resemblance to the recent cup quarter final, Oke emerged victorious in another weather influenced encounter.

There was plentiful precipitation on the Friday and Saturday, thus preventing the firm ground and open rugby. However, the hosts adapted to the conditions sufficiently effectively to ultimately secure a comfortable bonus point victory.

The Okes lost the toss and were forced to play with the slope and weather during the first forty. The maroon and ambers started brightly and forced a five metre attacking scrum after four minutes. The set scrum was steady but Okes chose to move the ball right from the set piece; home fly half Rhys Palmer fed winger Luke Honeychurch in midfield off his blind side wing, to cut a neat line and crash over between the sticks. Full back Gary Sizmur landed the conversion and the Okes had another sharp start and a platform to build upon.

On 12 minutes the hosts lost prop Pat Nash to the bin and this allowed the visitors to gain a foothold in the match as they looked to utilise a narrow ’pick and go’ technique against the slope.

Teignmouth entered Okes territory while a man up on several occasions, but handling errors combined with resolute home defence  ensured the Okes were still seven points to the good when restored to a full XV. 

Player coach Gareth Evans entered the fray and was soon enjoying several, powerful forays in open play. The Okes were now back in the ascendancy, but as the half ticked away they  failed to add to their lead and required more points to defend against the elements in the second half. Kicks went dead, and the increasingly slippery ball often went to ground as the half hour approached.

The Okes dominance forced another five metre scrummage; home number eight Tom Mcgrattan took a quick tap and go and ploughed over to double the Okes’ try tally. The conversion went wide but the Okes at least now had a little more breathing space.

The lead still did not reflect the pattern of play so far until, on 37 minutes, the Okes struck for a third time. Ruck ball moved left found Palmer; he cut back against the grain, sliding up the blind side before finding McGrattan out wide — the prolific back rower showed the visitor’s defence a clean pair of heels to cruise over wide out and stretch the home lead to 17 points.

Right on the break a Joey Bruce high kick ahead went loose and was snaffled by Oke centre Richie Friend; He found midfield partner Kevin Dennis in support and the home number 13 raced away to slide over and bring the half to the end with a 22-0, lead.

Conditions grew increasing worse as the mud influenced proceedings, forcing many a handling error during the second forty.

The visitors had territorial advantage for long periods but the home defence was generally up to the task. Knock ons abounded and the next real action didn’t occur until the 58th minute when Oke missed tackles allowed pressure to build in the bottom left corner and a rolling maul eventually saw centre Will Sowden bundled over to make it 22-5.

The visitors continued to strive for a second score over the next 15 minutes. The hosts defence, coupled with handling errors aplenty from the Teigns ensured that the visitors would never really threaten the Okes’ whitewash as the time ticked away. The home side finally escaped their defensive shackles as the match entered its last throes and once more the hosts forced a five metre scrum. The Okes decided to pick up and go, and after a couple of charges flanker Simon Cox reached for the line only to lose control and the referee blew for time immediately afterwards.

Once more not a classic at home, but a valuable five points nonetheless. .