Wellington Colts 15
Okehampton Colts 7
OKEHAMPTON Colts started their season with new shirts sponsored by the Royal Mail and put on a good performance against Wellington.
Try-saving tackles from Paul Tripp and Pete Herrod-Taylor kept the Okes in the game. Their front row wore out the home side before half-time and they replaced the entire front three.
Rucking and mauling was impressive with Simon Bennett and Matt Weekes putting in a massive workrate. Simon Quick and Ian Sercombe at half back used the ball well with searching chips over the defence for Ben Woolams to chase down.
Okehampton's only score came from a charged down kick and regather by Herrod-Taylor who scored between the posts. Sercombe converted.
These two worked well together with perfectly timed passes opening the Wellington line. A 70-yard run by Herrod-Taylor scything through the defence was stopped by the Wellington full back.
Wellington's three unconverted tries all came from loose play around the fringes and all in the corners. Okehampton's committed tackling denied the home side any breaks in midfield and ball was either dropped due to pressure from Sercombe, Herrod-Taylor and Chris Martin or chipped over the back line for Tripp to gather.
Okehampton needed continuity of phase play but were repeatedly denied by repetitive penalties.
An impressive start for Okehampton Colts with a new pack working well together under Josh Taylor.