Western Counties West

Okehampton 10

Truro 10

THIS drawn home game continues Okehampton's recent poor run of results. A fragmented match which never reached any heights and ended in virtual darkness, saw Oke and Truro once more battle it out on a cloggy mud bath of a pitch.

Both the weather, and the home side's rugby, started brighter than had been the case in recent weeks. However by the final whistle, both had deteriorated badly.

Playing down the slope, the Okes took the early exchanges to their Cornish visitors, and it was not long before a Carl Poynton penalty had opened up a 3-0 home lead. Fluent play was never going to be the order of the day however, and Oke were guilty of not using the boot effectively during the opening 40, and when they did kick ahead, the chase was often pedestrian and unconvincing.

Both sides took the fringe first route in their attacks, as close in forward play soon became the order of the day. In fact the first, and only real fluent attack from the Okes all afternoon, came after 20 minutes. Fly half Poynton showed good vision to throw a long double miss pass to winger Rob Fishleigh on the overlap. Support play ensued, with inside passes from Fishleigh and then centre Tom Powell putting Craig Dennis over beside the posts for a 10-0 lead; Poynton converting.

Just as Okehampton had forged a decent lead, a visiting Truro prop went down with a serious leg injury. Play was held up for an hour as an ambulance was called, and this further disrupted what little flow the match actually had.

Play eventually restarted with conditions worsening and there was no further score arrived in the reminder of the first half.

The Okes seemed to have lost what little zest and enthusiasm they had previously mustered, and the second period belonged firmly to the visitors. The Okes on-going lineout malfunction problems resurfaced, and they found it difficult to gain any meaningful possession. Truro used the boot more effectively than their hosts and Oke threatened rarely.

It was no surprise when Truro reduced the arrears with a forward drive over the whitewash and under the posts. Fly half Champion converted, and with a quarter remaining Oke had a real task holding onto their narrow lead. The rain came down and the pitch resembled a badly ploughed field. Truro lost a forward to the bin but still the Okes created little in the way of attacking openings.

As the match entered the last ten minutes, Truro levelled things up with a simple penalty from in front, landed again by Champion. Neither side really threatened a match winning score, although the Truro forward previously binned, failed to learn his lesson and took an early bath after another infringement. This had no impact though as time was nearly up, and a winning score was looking increasingly unlikely.

There was almost a palpable sense of relief when the referee finally blew for time, somewhere amongst the darkness that had enveloped the pitch.

This was not a defeat for the Okes at least, but little in the way of positives, apart from the welcome reappearances off the bench for captain Gareth Espin and Tom McGratton after spells on the treatment table.

n This week Okehampton are away to league leaders Bideford.