Devon and Cornwall League Teignmouth first XV 10 Okehampton first XV 32 THIS was another valuable away win for the Okes on Saturday, against a side at full strength and fighting for its life in a struggle to remain afloat at the bottom of the league table. Considering the rainfall during the preceding week, conditions at Bitton Park were surprisingly firm underfoot, and this allowed some decent open rugby to be played. Oke began with a moderate breeze at their backs and started steadily. The opening line outs were scrappy although perhaps the tactical boot was underutilised. Oke though were on the front foot and opened the scoring with the first of many well struck, successful kicks on the day from winger Lee Carey. However, Teignmouth briefly rallied and after Oke failed to clear their lines, the home side converted a penalty award to bring the scores level. Oke started to settle and another Carey penalty restored their lead. This was followed by the best move of the first period as the backs launched an attack and kept the ball alive well, to create an overlap for Gareth Espin, returning to the side after injury, to cross wide out on the right for a fine score. The conversion was unsuccessful but Lee Carey soon added another wind assisted penalty to stretch the visitors' lead to 14-3 at the interval. Okehampton were in control at this point without ever really stamping their domination on proceedings. Teignmouth's pack had struggled to win enough quick ball and therefore their backs hadn't really tested their opposite numbers at all. The second period started brightly with Oke continuing to win the lion's share of possession, and with their pack in control and the back row dominant, they forged further ahead with two more Carey penalties. With Oke leading 20-3 and entering the last quarter Teignmouth mustered a brief spell on the front foot; this resulted in a converted try, as their hefty number eight rumbled over from a quick tap penalty. Despite appearing to be held up, the try was awarded and it was game on again. This was the cue for Oke to bring on fresh legs and the last ten minutes produced some excellent attacking rugby from the visitors. Flanker Simon Cox was putting in a man of the match performance, turning up just about everywhere and proving to be a very effective link between backs and forwards. This was stretching the Teignmouth defence all over the park, and as they tired, it was looking more and more likely that gaps would soon appear. They did, and good offloading in the tackle put Lee Carey over in the corner for the try that broke the home side's resistance. Straight from the kick off, good passing and support play created an overlap for centre Luke Honeychurch; although the cover just got across to him he managed an inside pass to the supporting Carey who crossed again to seal the victory, and with it a personal match haul of 27 points. This was a very satisfactory win for Oke in a potential banana skin of a match. With players coming back from injury and performing well, Oke should be confident of revenge against Bideford this Saturday, in the return home league fixture after a disappointing away defeat earlier in the season. Oke now find themselves only four points behind the league leaders, and for a side hoping mainly to consolidate their place in this league this season, that represents encouraging progress indeed.
