Rhino Devon Junior Cup Okehampton 8 Cullompton 3 THIS final lived up to all expectations as a tense nervous affair. Cullompton won the toss and elected to play down the slope with the wind. Early pressure seemed to make the decision a good one. But they never turned pressure into points and crucially missed two fairly easy kicks. As the first half wore on, the young Okes began to get a grip with excellent scrummaging and rolling mauls, applying pressure. Quick ball was moved wide - with Arnie Searle running as a decoy Andy Brimmacombe passed halfway across the pitch for Dave Watts to collect and score a try worthy of the final. It was unconverted. The half-time score stood at 5-0. The second half saw Cullompton stepping up a gear. Sustained pressure was again applied to a valiant Okes defence for 20 minutes or so that saw a nervous home crowd of around 500 biting their nails. But again the excellent coaching of Brett Luxton saw the organised defence overcome a committed attack. After some rare pressure, Cullompton gave away a telling penalty. Brimmacombe stepped up and held his nerve to put it over. But Cullompton immediately replied with a penalty of their own which kept the game tight right to the end. But as the clock wore down, the home side began to apply pressure and at the end the Okes could have increased the score. Official for the day Tim Rice checked with the linesman and blew the final whistle - the Okes had won the cup. It was a great result for all the main sponsors and vice-presidents who had earlier enjoyed their annual lunch. Club captain Lee Carey, captain on the day Ali Mason, and chairman of selectors Andy Ewen all agreed that man of the match went to all 19 players involved. Credit also goes to all 35 players who have appeared for the Okes this season. With players being generated out of an excellent junior section the future of rugby at Okehampton looks very good. This week sees a difficult encounter with arch rivals Bideford which if Okehampton can win sees them top the league ? kick-off 3pm.
