Merit

Teignmouth seconds 12

Okehampton seconds 31

FOLLOWING last week's away win the Okehampton seconds rugby side travelled to Teignmouth hoping to maintain momentum in the Merit table.

A flat dry pitch with no wind saw ideal conditions for some good rugby and the visitors were into their stride with Simon Griffiths making good ground from the kick-off retrieval – his pass found Colt Liam Sampson who embarked on a powerful tackle busting run deep into the Teign 22 from where the defence were able to clear their lines.

The visitors maintained dominance but despite some great midfield breaks from an impressive back line , the timing of ball release at appropriate moments proved a frustrating trait. Against a hefty bunch of opponents, Oke prop Simon Griffiths took a well timed pass from brother Bruce to open the scoring.

Despite some attractive back play, Okehampton huffed and puffed to secure further scores. At times it seemed that little had been learned from previous games in terms of playing to strengths with the forwards at odds to secure regular possession.

When possession eventually found open space , Barry Down crossed the whitewash for Oke's second score.

Okehampton's back line with excellent distribution from Petherbridge and great lines of running from Johns, Sizmur and Wonnacott were now looking sharp and impressive with some great breaks but the finishing act proved elusive.

In the second half, better use of the open spaces manifested two tries from the athletic and impressive Liam Sampson as well as a well earned try from the impressive Matt Johns who had run hard and impressed all afternoon.

Petherbridge slotted the conversion to add to the total.

Overall, however, this was a pleasing performance from Oke seconds but some important lessons to be learned in terms of the timing of ball release.