Devon and Cornwall League Okehampton first XV 24 Teignmouth first XV 3 THIS was a welcome return to winning ways for the Okes against their injury-hit visitors, who are struggling at the wrong end of the table. The home side had more experience amongst this week?s side and they dominated territory and possession for virtually the whole match ? so may be slightly disappointed that they didn?t win by a greater margin. Once again Oke lost the toss and played with the slope during the first period. They started on the front foot though, and despite losing captain Langbridge to the sin bin early on, they created several clean breaks, and with tackles being broken on a regular basis it seemed only a matter of time before the deadlock was broken. It took until well into the latter part of the first half before the home side managed to cross the whitewash. The score came from a driving maul in the bottom right hand corner. A sustained surge ended with flanker Harry Bushin emerging with the ball, winger Luke Honeychurch struck a fine left footed conversion from wide out to extend the lead to seven points. Teignmouth were struggling to get any kind of foothold in the match and with plentiful ball, Oke continued to dominate with flanker Ali Mason particularly prominent with several storming runs into the heart of the south Devon side?s defence. From yet another strong attacking position Oke converted a straightforward penalty award and at the half time interval they were ahead 10-0. The second period followed a similar one to the first half in that Oke dominated all phases and it was merely a question of turning domination into points. The home side found more gaps and broke more tackles than in any previous match this season, and from a clean break through the outside centre channel, centre Andy Brimmacombe crossed for a well taken try to extend the lead. Honeychurch again converted and the victory was almost assured. The visitors did manage a penalty in reply but with the home pack continuing to supply a plethora of possession Oke looked for further scores to boost the points for tally and their confidence. Only one more try was scored though, and it was appropriate that it was created by good combination play between Mason and centre Richard Appleyard, who consistently made good ground all afternoon. Winger Luke Honeychurch show good lines of running to be up in support to dot down after Appleyard?s pass. Scrum half Joe Bruce converted and at 24-3 time was nearly up. No more points were scored, but when the whistle blew Oke will be pleased with a lot of aspects of their play. They need to be more ruthless when in the red zone, and will need to make more of their scoring opportunities, which are much harder to come by against the stronger sides they face in this league. l Next week Okehampton firsts have a tricky away trip to mid table side Wellington.
