Jackson Vending Devon &
Exeter Premier League
Okehampton Argyle 3
Sidmouth Town 0
AFTER four weeks out of action because of postponements, Argyle could have been excused if they were a little rusty, but they were up against Sidmouth, whom they beat away earlier in the season.
A good goalscoring opportunity went begging in the fifth minute when a cross from the right saw Argyle?s Lloyd Chapman sidefoot the ball wide with just the keeper to beat.
Moments later, Adam Mortimer broke through the middle and took the ball around the onrushing keeper, but before he could slot it into the unguarded net, a last-ditch tackle was made by Sidmouth?s Dave Stevens to push it behind for a corner.
This early pressure seemed sure to pay off, and this was the case, when Okehampton scored twice in the space of three minutes.
First Steve Williams sidefooted in a right wing cross from Paul Yip, to find the bottom right hand corner. Then from Argyle?s next attack, a slick one-two between Yip and Adam Mortimer saw the latter find the bottom left hand corner of the net with a well placed shot.
On the half-hour Yip and Mortimer again combined well to slice through the Sidmouth defence, leaving Mortimer to pick his spot to put Argyle three up, and the game as good as won.
In the closing minutes of the first half a dejected Sidmouth managed to conjure up a couple of worthwhile attacks, but their shooting was well off target and did not trouble keeper Chris Dearing, who was standing in for the unavailable Shaun Sandercock.
The second half was disappointing, with many chances made but squandered by poor finishing.
The nearest anyone came to scoring was on the hour, when Argyle?s Neil Agnew almost headed an own goal when intercepting a cross. Fortunately Dearing managed to fingertip the ball over the bar for a corner.
With 15 minutes left, Sidmouth?s best shot of the match was brilliantly turned onto the bar and out for a corner by the ever alert Dearing.
But this was still an important result for Argyle, who now have to play another 13 matches in the next six weeks. These start with another home match against Willand Rovers on Saturday, 3pm kick-off.