St Martin's 1
Okehampton Argyle 1
OKEHAMPTON started much the better of the sides and looked positive going forward. Using the width provided by Neil Vernon and Jerome Whatley, they created several half chances during the opening exchanges.
St Martin's then shocked Okehampton by taking the lead in the tenth minutes with their first real attack. A long ball over the top caught the defence napping and Danny Sills broke through to slot past an isolated Rich Bailey.
The Saints then enjoyed their best spell as a disjointed Okehampton struggled to overcome this setback. Too much bickering and arguing threatened to undermine Argyle's good start and it was left to Bailey to keep them in the game with a string of fine saves, one a one-handed full-length save of real quality.
A tactical switch midway through the half, which saw Cann move into midfield and Mike Vernon drop back to sweep, stemmed the tide and gradually Okehampton got back into the match.
Ian Gill came closest to equalising when his header went agonisingly wide but the score remained the same at the break.
Argyle began the second-half in much the same vein, searching for the equaliser. Numerous attacks were thwarted as they failed to break down a stubborn defence and slowly the creativity dried up.
Argyle's play became more anxious as their passing game went out of the window and they resorted to long, hopeful balls.
As the 90th minute approached it looked as though it would be another painful 1-0 defeat for Okehampton, but then Pollard stormed into the area before he was sent crashing to the ground. Neil Agnew calmly stroked the resultant penalty into the corner of the net to give Argyle a thoroughly deserved point.
Teams: Bailey, Gill K, Ausden, Cann, Vernon N, Vernon M, Pollard, Agnew, Whatley, Gill I, Mortimer. Sub: Maddax.
This week sees Okehampton entertain Buckland Athletic at Simmons Park, kick-off 3pm.