Okehampton II XV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .22
Sidmouth II XV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
IN a keenly contested early season encounter at Oaklands the home side will feel a little aggrieved at being denied victory.
After electing to play uphill in the first half and into a strong wind, the Okes started strongly and were rewarded for their territorial supremacy with a Buzz Brimacombe penalty and a converted interception try by skipper Adam Curtis.
However, this was to be the best of the scoring by the home side for some considerable time as they allowed their opponents to seize the advantage.
Firstly a questionable penalty try was awarded when a Sidmouth player was impeded and then on the stroke of half time a soft try was conceded following the charge-down of an attempted Okehampton clearance.
After the interval things went from bad to worse when Sidmouth scored another try.
This seemed to galvanise the Okes who set about reducing the 12 points deficit by re-establishing their dominance of both territory and possession.
Despite a number of good try scoring opportunities they had to settle for 4 penalites from the boot of Buzz Brimacombe the last of which brought the scores level. Brimacombe had a fine match throughout and posted his credentials to the first XV selectors.
After a successful pre-season build up the Okehampton chiefs were disappointingly beaten by 39 points to 3 at Sidmouth.
This week sees a home fixture with Teignmouth.