South West one

SHORN of half of last week’s side, this was always going to be a big ask for the previously unbeaten Okes.

Things got off to bad start when Okehampton the visitors were missing three of last week’s scrum back five and over half the backline; however the Okes travelled to Drybrook looking to maintain their fine start to the season.

For virtually half the encounter the Okes were well in the match, but fell away during the second forty, allowing the hosts to stretch ahead for an ultimately comfortable win.

The hosts attacked immediately as Oke strove to run the four hour journey out of their systems and were immediately awarded a kickable penalty. Metronomic home nine Treharne, who went on to have a perfect 100% success rate with the boot, potted the goal to make it 3-0 after barely two minutes.

The Okes began to get a foothold and created a couple of openings up the right flank in a evenly contested first ten minutes. Then their afternoon took another cruel twist when winger Rory Honeychurch suffered a knee injury, ending his afternoon as he was carried from the field of play.

Oke were forced into an early reshuffle, carrying no backs replacement on the bench they were forced  to move captain Tom McGrattan from the back row to cover the vacant left wing slot, with the returning Dean Abrams taking his skipper’s spot on the flank.

The replacement was soon in the thick of the action, making tackles and forcing turnovers as the Okes continued to match their hosts in most facets. On 17 minutes the Okes were penalised again, this time for side entry at a ruck and the reliable boot of Treharne stretched the home lead to six points.

Okehampton, though, continued to trouble the home defence when clean possession was secured, and with a quarter of the match gone the visitors found themselves a man up as the hosts lost a forward for repeated infringements. The resultant penalty was kicked to the corner, and although the initial line out drive was repelled, scrum half Joey Bruce snuck around the fringe for the Oke’s first five pointer of the afternoon. In the absence of usual goal kicker Richie Friend  the conversion went wide, but the Okes belief was on the rise.

Drybrook began to spill ball as the Okes back row grew increasingly influential. Flanker Liam Sampson putting in another huge shift in his last appearance before returning to university and player coach Martin Harrison-Browne carrying forcefully from number eight. Half an hour had elapsed when another dropped pass in the home midfield gave Oke another chance to counter. Centre Rhys Palmer gathered the loose ball and set off only to be brought down on the home 22. Flanker Dean Abrams was as ever right in support  to receive the pop pass and canter in under the posts. Joey Bruce added the extra two and things were looking rosy for the Okes sitting on a 12-6 lead. 

Both sides infringed as the interval approached, Oke secured a vital turnover near halfway but failed to move the ball away from the breakdown and a scrum ensued. The visitors were penalised at scrum time and Drybrook booted the ball into the corner. The lineout was the last play of the half but the Okes could not prevent the attack that sprung from it resulting in a try by the posts, a real turning point as the home side now led 16-12 at the interval. 

At the halftime break , few would have predicted the one sided second forty that lay on the horizon. Despite their depleted ranks, Okes had given as good as they’d got in the first half. However, almost from the restart the home side grew increasingly dominant up front, particularly at  ruck and maul time.

Another penalty from Treharne increased their lead, before the hosts immediately attacked again, and as the Okes defended their line, centre Luke Honeychurch was sent to the bin for a ruck infringement. The home side kicked to the corner again, this time the catch and drive was unstoppable and the lead had increased to 14 points after Treharne’s conversion.

Oke restarted but were immediately reduced to thirteen men when Liam Sampson was adjudged to have taken  a man out in the air from the kick off. A sizable task was now a huge one for the Okes, but they manfully defended the sin bin periods as wave after wave off home attacks were somehow repelled.

Restored to 14, and with 20 minutes left on the clock, the Okes hoped for a  strong last quarter and the possibility of a losing bonus point. This hope was quashed on 61 minutes though  when the home pack forced their way over.

Now back to fifteen men, Oke trailed 33-12 entering the last ten minutes. The home side were still monopolising possession and the Okes were living off scraps.

The Okes showed some fighting spirit though as they finally secured some ball in the dying minutes, creating a gap in midfield through which skipper Tom McGrattan strode to cross beside the posts allowing Joey Bruce to convert and stir faint hopes of a four try losing bonus point. However, despite regaining possession and a foothold in the home red zone, the Okes knocked on and the chance was gone.