Devon and Cornwall League

Tavistock 17

OKEHAMPTON RFC ultimately emerged victorious after this tense, hard fought promotion battle with local rivals and fellow title chasers Tavistock.

The game was fiercely contested and in the end came down to a contest between the Tavistock pack and Ohehampton backs, with both sides creating and squandering scoring opportunities.

Okehampton played with the slope advantage first up, on a dry but bitter afternoon that carried a biting cross field wind.

Okehampton started the stronger and took the lead when left winger Lee Carey scored in the corner on the opposite side of the pitch. The difficult conversion was missed but the visitors were ahead.

Okehampton could have increased their lead soon after but good defensive work from Ben Palmer denied them the try.

This stirred Tavistock into action and through their powerful back five, they drove time and again at the heart of the Okes' defence, showing sound rucking technique and good ball retention. After some fierce driving forward play, Mark Kerswill ploughed over the line from short range for Tavistock, for James Kaminski to convert.

The conversion was added and the hosts had their noses in front.

The visitors continued to hold the upper hand in the forwards during this period and although the Okes' backs looked threatening, they were not seeing enough of the ball. Tavistock continued to surge up the slope and began to move the ball slightly wider.

Kaminski scored after he collected his own clever chip over the Okehampton defence, duly converting his own try.

Next it was Okehampton's turn onto the offensive as hooker Bruce Griffiths scampered up the tramlines but was turned over as he stretched to score.

Okehampton knew they needed something before the interval and it finally came after a surge down the right from winger Tom Powell. He fed full back Gareth Espin supporting on the inside and as he was cover tackled, he popped the ball to Simon Cox appearing on his inside shoulder and the livewire flanker crossed the whitewash for a fine score.

Again the Okes failed to convert but had crucially narrowed the lead briefly, although the hosts did stretch their half time lead to seven points with a penalty kick just before the whistle.

At half time Tavistock lost James Kaminski who was taken to hospital with a badly ripped ear.

After the turnaround most people saw Tavistock as being in the driving seat but Okehampton had other ideas, mounting several attacks down the right hand narrow side and it was from one of these attacking salvos that they put themselves right back in contention. The ball shifted through several pairs of hands before Bruce Griffiths gave the inside scoring pass to full back Gareth Espin. Once more the conversion was awry and Oke were still behind as a result.

As the game reached the final quarter both sides battled for the decisive score and Tavistock thought they had gained it only for the referee to judge that Jake Phillips had been held up over the line.

The Okes made a couple of substitutions and it looked to be an astute tactic as they contributed to the next and ultimately crucial score.

Again Oke penetrated down the right flank, once more the ball was efficiently moved left to right and replacement wing Rob Fishleigh, as on several occasions previously this season, showed his priceless knack of squeezing into the corner for a match winning try. Unconverted, this took the score to 20-17 with over ten minutes remaining, and both sides knew this could be the most important ten minutes of their respective seasons.

Tavistock dug deep and strove for the winning score. They camped in Okehampton's 22 and battered away as they forced several five metre scrums. The Okehampton defence stood up heroically. Finally, they escaped into opposition territory and rejoiced as one when the final whistle blew.

It was not the most technically perfect match; but one played with no lack of courage and commitment as two of the league's best sides battled it out in a no-quarter given battle.

Okehampton had won what was effectively a four pointer and in so doing, put a big dent in Tavistock's promotion hopes.

With just two games remaining Tavistock are equal third in the Cornwall and Devon Division, with Crediton and Truro two points behind second placed Okehampton and four behind Penryn.

Okehampton have to win their last two league fixtures to be assured of promotion, beginning this Saturday with the visit of Plymstock Albion Oaks, kick off 3 pm.

• This Saturday Tavistock travel to Plymouth side OPMs, kick off 3pm.