Western Counties west

Teignmouth 44

Okehampton 39

THIS was a game played on a bright, sunny day on a dry, dusty pitch which was in direct contrast with the wet, muddy state of pitches in the past few months. This surface was made for a fast running game, and so it proved.

It was a try fest with Teignmouth just scraping a win at the end. Teignmouth head the table and are promoted and had a 100% home record so far this season, but Okehampton soon set about trying to break this record. The game that followed was a high scoring exhibition of running rugby.

Right from the kick off Okehampton showed their intention to run the ball and attacked the Teignmouth position. Ironically the first score came after two minutes when the Oke pack drove over the line to score a pushover try, which skipper Tom Powell converted to give the away side an early seven point lead. Fly half Gareth Espin was superb during the early stages, making breaks to carve his way through the Teignmouth defence. First he set the fleet footed full back Rob Fishleigh on his way to score a try which Powell converted and a few minutes later set up another backs' move, which saw Fishleigh feed the ball to winger Rory Honeychurch who sprinted in for a try wide on the right. Between these scores the Okes were awarded a penalty which Powell converted so after 22 minutes the visitors were 22 points up with no response from the home side.

The strong Teignmouth side then came back and camped on the Oke line. The referee gave a series of penalties to the home side for infringements at the ruck and Oke flanker Dean Abrams spent 10 minutes in the sin bin. After sustained pressure the home side scored an unconverted try and kicked a penalty to bring it to 8-22. Espin showed his class by breaking away from the home defence to score under the posts with Powell converting to take the score to 8-29 to the Moorland visitors. Teignmouth responded quickly to this and a converted try took the score at half time to 15-29.

The second half saw both sides continue to run the ball and following early pressure Oke captain Tom Powell notched another penalty to take Oke to a 15-32 lead. Teignmouth were resurgent from the start of the second half and began to exert pressure on the Oke team. Teignmouth began to win more ball in the rucks and mauls and a cross field kick for the right winger was just foiled by Oke replacement back Dan Foggarty. The Okes' centre Rory Honeychurch was sin binned on 60 minutes for a deliberate knock on while attempting to intercept a loose Teignmouth pass. Teignmouth pressure then resulted in them scoring to the left of the posts and the conversion took the score to 22-32. There followed a period where the teams traded possession mid-way through the half and Teignmouth gradually took the upper hand. Two quick tries — one from a lucky bounce when the centre went over, the other after a quick passing move out on the left side, took the home team into the lead at 41-32 with 10 minutes to go.

In an exciting final period, Oke wing Lewis Taylor ran in a try which Powell again converted to bring the scores closer at 39-41. The final few minutes saw Okehampton strive to get another score to take the win, but right on time Teignmouth were awarded a penalty which saw then run out winners at 44-39. It was to Okehampton's credit that they never let their heads drop and never stopped trying but in the end the league leaders just about deserved the win.

Congratulations to the hosts on their promotion. Okehampton take bonus points from the game to consolidate their position in the top half of the league table.

The club is holding its President's Day on Saturday, May 2, on a day long festival of rugby.