Okehampton Colts 34 Cullompton Colts 3 FOLLOWING a sparkling second half display Okehampton Colts recorded an excellent merit table win against a well drilled and spirited Cullompton side. The first half saw the Okes playing against the slight pitch slope. The early territorial advantage went to the home side with the possession being well protected in the face of determined and aggressive defence from the away forwards. An early penalty attempt from the Okes struck the upright after which the game entered a period of Cullompton domination. Playing a forward dominated game they gradually started to gain both territorial and possession advantage with the home side very much on the back foot. The pressure resulted in the first score to the visitors with a well taken penalty kick. This prompted a spirited response from the home side that saw them force play well into the Cullompton half. Much emphasis has been placed on moving the ball wide on the training ground and putting this into practice started to generate its rewards with wingers Grayling and Goodall both making significant ground. Play was driven close to the Cullompton line and it was Phil Harding, making a welcome return from injury that scored the first try as a result of some determined drives from the forwards. From the restart Cullompton gained possession but a crunching tackle from Grayling resulted in turnover to the Okes. The ball was fed to Jake Chisolm who made a strong run through midfield and after some good handling Carl Goodall outstripped the defence to bring the half time score to 10 ? 3. The Okes started the second half in great fashion when Rob Fishleigh and Goodall combined excellently in terms of running the angles and calling the support for Goodall to score a well worked try. Cullompton?s response was both determined and spirited and they enjoyed a period being camped in the Okehampton 22 but despite throwing everything at the home side the Okes defended their line with real grit and determination with Oli Fay, Tom Richards and Rob Long being prominent in forcing the visitors back. Eventually the Okes re-established control. Goodall added another well worked try for his hat trick. Phil Harding was rewarded for his superb support play with his second try from a quickly taken penalty and proceedings were rounded off when Jamie Dart took another quick penalty to put full back Fishleigh over in the corner. Carl Poynton converted two of the tries to bring the final score to 34-3. l Next week Okehampton Colts play Honiton away in a merit table game.
