Okehampton Thirds 39
Exeter Saracens Thirds 12
ON a bitter day this re-arranged fixture was lucky to go ahead — both the pitches at the clubhouse at Oakland's remained frozen all day. At a 12.30 pitch inspection at Okehampton Park it was decided the ground was playable, just.
With the ground being hard both sides played open running rugby with few infringements on the ground. Saracens had the best of the opening 20 minutes with Okehampton rarely touching the ball.
The Acorns got on the scoresheet when a poor knock-down from a Saracens lineout was pounced on by Rob Ewen in the goal area.
Another try from Okehampton up the hill was made to look easy when quick ball from the forwards saw full-back Lee Pengelly join the line and run in from the 22 under the posts.
Saracens hit back when their scrum half took advantage of loose Okehampton tackling and poor covering to dribble the ball over for a try. Hayden Leigh got the third try of the half after a good passage of play.
A personal battle had developed in the centre with Charles Ewen an Okehampton player 'on loan to Saracens', Gary Cary charging at each other at every occasion, both putting in some crunching tackles.
At half time, with the score at 17-5, Okehampton knew they had to step up their game. The forwards began to dominate the set scrum and Ken Pollard gained good ball against the put-in.
Tries started to come with the ball being spun out to the wings at every occasion. New boy Toby Daniel added to his season's points tally with two well taken tries.
The icing on the cake was when Mark Curtis ran through the defence to score just before the final whistle.
A late consolation try from the Saracens scrum half after he took a quick penalty was no more than they deserved on the day.
Adam Holiday converted two of the seven tries.