AFTER a season of fluctuating form, Okehampton entered their final match of the season against bottom of the table Tiverton, knowing that a win would secure them a place in Division 2 next season, and condemn Tiverton to the drop. With high stakes Rob Barkwell (No5) was first on court, and fought through his bemusing loss of form in recent weeks, to make it a real tussle in the first. But after losing that narrowly, Rob lost his way with a catalogue of uncharacteristic errors. A 0-3 loss to start. Next was Steve Yeo (No4) who has seen a real resurgence in fitness and form recently. Its was a ding dong battle, and Steve finally lost a tight fourth game after some huge rallies, to go down 1-3. Suddenly Okehampton were on the brink of relegation - no more slips could be afforded. Luckily Arnie Searle (No2) proved a safe pair of hands, using some deep drives to overpower his opponent, cruising to a 3-0 win. Okehampton now had a bit of wind back in their sales and Jon Sampson (No1) continued the resurgence on the night, with complete domination of his opponent early on to take a 9-0, 5-0 lead. But then Jon?s legs started to tire, and suddenly the game tightened right up - finishing with two incredibly close and hard fought games. Luckily Jon won both, for a 3-0 win. A great climax then played out with Don Rooke (No3) having to play and win to keep Okehampton up. Don used his stylish shot and strong wrist to great effect early on - winning the first two games. But then it all turned around, and Don started to feel his age - struggling to close out the match and ultimately finding himself in a 2-2, and 8pts all situation! After a lot of huffing and puffing, Don steadied and ran out a worthy winner. Okehampton 1 stay in North Devon Division 2.
