Devon Premier cup Second round Lovacott (Barnstaple) 0 Okehampton Argyle 1sts 1 OKEHAMPTON made hard work of beating their North Devon Premier League opponents, who had only won one of their seven games so far this season. However, this win puts Argyle into the third round of the cup, along with sides such as Tavistock from the South Western League. Despite missing three of their regular first team line-up, Okehampton started well and enjoyed 75% of the possession. But they seemed unable to turn their dominance into goals, and persisted in playing long balls down the middle. They still looked the better team and midway through the first half took the lead when Chris Willis was brought down in the penalty area ? Robbie Sandercock stroked home a well-taken spot kick. But to the frustration of their fans, they were unable to capitalise on this lead, and allowed Lovacott to enjoy more of the game as half-time approached. Okehampton came out for the second half in a more determined mood and began to put together better moves. They continually opened up the Lovacott defence but just could not put the final touch to their approach work. Steve Kinsey had a great chance, but his shot was blocked by the Lovacott goalkeeper and ran loose to Steve Williams. He skilfully made an opening for himself and lashed in a great shot, but this was headed onto the post by a defender. Robbie Miller unleashed a tremendous shot from 30 yards which crashed against the underside of the bar and came back into play. Despite this dominance, Lovacott were always dangerous on the break, but the Okehampton back four of Matthew Mortimer, Mike Vernon, James Williams and Warwick Botham had a solid game and dealt well with occasional breakaways. This Saturday: Bickleigh, away, kick-off 2.30pm (East Devon Senior Cup).
