Okehampton Thirds 31
North Tawton Seconds 0
THIS was possibly the last game of the season for the Okehampton Acorns XV and with their unbeaten record to defend against local rivals North Tawton it was always going to be hotly contested.
Front row problems led to changes up front with captain and usual No 8 playing at loose head prop and second row forward Chris Lavis moving up to take the tight-head position. This meant a change in the back row with Steve King filling the vacant No 8 slot. The pack was bolstered with Pete Hodge and Keith Lee at second row. The backs were little changed to the usual line up with the exception of Mark Curtis replacing the unavailable Toby Daniel.
The resulting ruck from the kick-off saw an aggressive North Tawton pack try and gain possession. With only five minutes played Pete Hodge was forced to retire after a nasty knee injury and the game stopped a number of times for running repairs to players. This in part was due to the hard playing surface after the long dry spell.
The Okehampton pack quickly gelled and began to get the better of tight play providing good ball for the back division. With few gaps opening up it took Okehampton 20 minutes before the first score with Adrian Curtis scoring his first of two tries.
The conversion added, the Acorns needed to score more points to take advantage of the slight slope and wind they had in the first half. This they did, with Colin Ewen and Dave Watts scoring the tries, and Adam Holliday converting one. One try came after great lineout work from Keith Lee with the pack driving play 10 to 15 metres downfield before releasing the ball to the backs.
For the first 15 minutes of the second half Okehampton had to defend their own line as North Tawton, led by captain Paul Fewings, fought back. Fred Bolt was to the fore, supported by the rest of the pack.
There were excellent runs by North Tawton's Paul Whale at centre and Adrian Grimshaw on the wing. Peter May, a new signing at prop, linked well and helped pile on the pressure.
But the Okehampton pack again became dominant.The fourth try came after a good period of play that saw every player involved with at least four phases before Curtis scored his second.
The last try for Okehampton came from a ball against the head for Ken Pollard. After going wide he came back for Richie Camis to score. This try, converted, made the score 31 for Okehampton with five minutes remaining.
l North Tawton are home to Ilfracombe this Saturday, kick-off 3pm.