Devon and Cornwall League Wessex 1st XV 7 Okehampton 1st XV 16 AFTER so many recent near misses and what ifs, Okehampton finally strung together a solid 80 minutes and came away with an invaluable away win. The foundation for victory was based on doing the basics well and solid defence. Okehampton played against a strong wind in the first half and started vigorously. They tested the home defence and went ahead with a well struck penalty from Martin Holgate, who joined play as a replacement after an early injury to scrum half Barry Down. Okehampton's defence was firm and with the pack slightly superior in the tight, the home side rarely threatened during the first quarter. As the half wore on, Wessex came more into the game. The home fly half pushed Okehampton back with accurate touch kicking and pressure mounted in Okehampton's 22. After a series of niggles, a full blown fight erupted between the two packs, Okehampton second row Mike Young was sin-binned and the home side missed a kickable penalty. Then with time running out in the first period, the home side were awarded a penalty five metres out. They ignored the easy three points and went for the pushover as they had the extra man. Okehampton defended the scrum superbly and held out until the half-time whistle. Fly half Brimmacombe showed great composure during the wind assisted second half to regularly relieve pressure with good line kicking. This built pressure on the home side. They tried to throw wide passes into a strong wind; one went astray and was gathered by Okehampton full back Gareth Espin. He showed a clean pair of heels and sprinted 60 metres to score under the posts to increase Okehampton's lead to ten points. Stand in scrum half Holgate kicked two more well judged penalties as Okehampton grew in confidence. The lead was now up to 16 points and Okehampton were playing their most controlled rugby for some weeks. As the game entered the last quarter the referee consistently penalised the visitors. Wessex pushed for a score and Okehampton lost second row Drake and prop Cloake to the sin-bin, leaving them down to 13 men. Wessex were awarded a penalty try from a pushover attempt which was duly converted. The lead was now 16-7. The last ten minutes was a backs against the wall defensive effort, which the Okes came through unscathed. The whistle blew and a precious two points in the battle against relegation were secured. Okehampton showed in this game that they can be a match for any side when they perform. The basics of securing set-piece ball, finding touch and making first up tackles were the deciding factors. l The next game is high flying Wadebridge at home in a fortnight's time.
