Devon Merit one
seconds 15
Devonport Services seconds 0
OKEHAMPTON faced an in-form Devonport Services side who were sitting one place above them in the table.
Oke kicked-off into the blustery wind and their well-drilled pack soon began to take control of procedings in the vital upfront battle. They had a distinct advantage at scrum time and following a succession of five metre scrums and penalties substantial prop Dan Carey thought he had rumbled over for the opening try although the referee deemed the ball to have been held up.
Services' defence was more than resilient however and despite the hosts battering away for the first quarter the scoreline remained at 0-0.
The deadlock was eventually broken when the Okes decided to play a slightly wider game. The ball was recycled on a number of occasions before left-wing Cameron Rickerby took a short ball at pace from fly-half Buzz Brimacombe. He made the all-important break and when he went to ground had the presence of mind to pop the ball back up to Brimacombe, who scored to the left of the posts. The simple conversion was potted and Okehampton led 7-0 with 30 minutes played.
There was then a slight delay when a Devonport player received attention for an ankle injury. When play resumed the Okehampton pack won a short range penalty just before half-time that was converted by Brimacombe to give the Okes a 10-0 lead at the interval.
Any hopes that the wind advantage in the second period would lead to a surfeit of points for the home side were soon dispelled. The Services' pack began to provide a regular supply of ball for their pacy backs. The home defence was solid however, and the game became something of a stalemate played in the central third of the pitch.
Okehampton then made a raft of substitutions.
A quick ball was moved to the open side where the impressive inside centre, Peter Herrod-Taylor made a clean break. He shipped the ball out to Toby Daniel on the wing who exchanged passes with the ever-present Rickerby before sliding over in the corner. The conversion was missed but the Okes were home and dry at 15-0.