Devon and Cornwall League Tavistock 1st XV 8 Okehampton 1st XV 12 WHAT a turnaround this Saturday from the last time these sides met. It was only six months ago that a weak Oke side travelled to Sandy Park in the league and were comprehensively beaten by 40 points. Both sides have strengthened since then, and it is a sign of the buoyancy and ambition at Okehampton this season that despite this hard earned victory, they know they can play much better. Playing down the slight slope, in strength sapping heat, the hosts were quickly into their stride and Oke were finding it difficult to settle and get out of their half. Then slowly as the half wore on, they came more into the game with particular impact in the set scrummage where new club captain Ian Langbridge was giving his opposite number a torrid time. Frustratingly, each time the Okes got into a decent field position they committed an unnecessary infringement. It was from one of these unnecessary turnovers that Tavistock opened the scoring. Their huge lock, new signing Gavin Boak, crashed over from a close range driving maul to put the hosts 5-0 up approaching the interval. This seemed to stir Oke into action and from a scrum, young scrum half Ryan Christophers made a clean break and a chip ahead was well chased and gathered by his half back partner Buzz Brimmacombe who crossed for a fine try to level the scores. The conversion was missed, and at the half time whistle the sides were locked at five points apiece. The second half followed a similar pattern to the first; it was a tight tussle with both sides struggling to break the defensive stranglehold. Neither side could manage to spread the ball wide enough to stretch the opposition sufficiently, so it was no surprise when the next score came again from a kick. However, strangely this time it was from a penalty effort for the posts. Centre Lee Carey?s effort dropped short but seemed to catch the home defence napping, the kick held up in the wind and young winger Matt Dennis showed the value of a good chase and not giving up on a lost cause, as he gathered the bouncing ball and scored near the posts to give Okehampton the lead. Lee Carey converted the try and for the first time Oke were ahead in the match 12-5. Tavistock were in no mood to admit defeat, They clawed their way back into the Okehampton half and were rewarded with a penalty from scrum half Alex Moy. which reduced the arrears to 12-8. Okehampton managed to hold onto their lead despite regularly attempting to tackle bigger opponents too high and being brushed off in the tackle. Tavistock?s handling errors increased their frustration and the final whistle went with Okehampton celebrating a first away victory against their local rivals in the league. l Okehampton have a hard home encounter with a Truro side relegated from the league above while Tavistock travel to Teignmouth, also in the Cornwall and Devon league, kick off 3pm.
