Okehampton 27
Devon RFU Presidents
XV 20
SATURDAY, April 30 saw a day of celebration at Okehampton RFC culminating in a thrilling game of Rugby between the Okehampton Club's First XV and the Devon RFU Presidents XV.
The game, originally scheduled for April 2010, was the final act in the club's 125th celebrations, but because so many games had been lost to bad weather the season had run on into May. The Devon RFU president generously held the game over into this season, so this was a day of great celebration. Max Turner is also a member of the Okehampton Club and was a player on the last occasion when a Devon RFU team played at Okehampton in 1965, when they were celebrating the opening of the then new clubhouse at the Oakland's site.
The day started with a past players' reunion lunch at which around 70 players from past years returned to the scene of past glories to enjoy a wonderful buffet lunch, provided by the president Angela Pengelly and the ladies of the club, surpassing their normally high standards for such events.
The President of Devon RFU, Max Turner, secretary Treve Mitchell and members of the committee joined the club for the lunch as guests of Okehampton RFC. Besides Max, other players from the 1965 team were present, which added a real sense of history to the occasion.
Before the main event of the afternoon, the Okehampton U9s team, under their coaches Robbie Burgoyne and Lee Pengelly, put on a display of Junior rugby to entertain the 200 strong crowd. They were driven from the pitch by an intense hail storm which fell from the skies just as they were due to start but as soon as the storm ended they returned to the pitch and gave an excellent display of their rugby skills, which served to highlight the work done by their coaches. They are surely the future for the club and for rugby in general, and who knows, there may be a future international among them to join Julian White as a hero of the club!
The boys then formed a guard of honour for the Devon and Okehampton teams as they ran onto the field from the stand tunnel. Devon RFU President Max Turner and his team manager had chosen a team from among the other Devon rugby clubs, many from the same Western Counties (West) League that Okehampton performed so well in during the past season, so expectations were high for a good, fast but close game to thrill the crowd. They were not to be disappointed.
The teams played fast, open rugby and put on a great display running rugby that had the crowd cheering. Tries were exchanged throughout the game and some excellent kicking added the conversion points on all but one occasion. This display was a great example of how rugby union should be played and of the standard of rugby amongst Devon clubs and in the Western Counties Leagues in particular.
The end result saw Oakhampton's XV run out 27-20 winners, but the result did not matter. The main thing was that the Okehampton club had celebrated in lively fashion. Players and Officials were entertained to a buffet meal after the game, where President Angela Pengelly thanked Devon RFU for the day and the teams for their efforts. Max Turner responded thanking the club for its hospitality. Then, in traditional fashion, everyone repaired to the bar, where celebrations continued long into the evening.