A SPIRITED second-half fightback wasn’t quite enough to save Okehampton 2nd XV from a 23-19 defeat away to Devon Two promotion chasers OPM.

Okey could not have wished for a much better start than the one Andy Alderman gave them with a fifth-minute try.

“Andy took a quick tap penalty and went through several tackles before he finished strongly to score a great try,” said Steve Alford, the Okehampton team manager.

OPM, with Devon under-21 fly-half Matt Smale pulling their strings, hit back with three tries and two conversions to lead 19-5 at the break.

Okey began their fightback after the interval with a line-out try for Joe Mawle. Alderman converted.

OPM responded with a penalty, but Okey were soon back on the board themselves.

“OPM gave away a penalty near their five-metre line and Andy Alderman tapped to Joe Mawle, who crashed through to score.

Alderman’s conversion left a point in it at 20-19 with what Okey thought was 15 minutes to go.

Smale kicked a penalty to give OPM some breathing space, but Okey remained upbeat about their chances.

“It looked like we could potentially grind out a win in what was becoming a really niggly game, but the final whistle went before we got on top,” said Alford.

Alford said after the game one of the OPM coaches produced a stopwatch that showed only 30 minutes were played in the second half.

Said Alford: “If the game was cut short it was a shame for our lads, who have been working really hard for each other week in and week out.”

Okehampton 2nd XV have no game this Saturday.