Southern one

OKEHAMPTON MEN’S FIRSTS 3

NORTH DEVON 1

BACK into action after the long Christmas break Okehampton faced North Devon for the return fixture of the season.

North Devon started the game better and it was not long before the away side made their first break. After some hard defending from Okehampton from central defenders Rob Hall and Rod Gers the ball eventually fell to a North Devon attacker who slotted the ball past keeper Matt Westlake.

The wake-up call spurred the home side into action and they started to test the North Devon defence with some lovely link up play between midfield and attack. More pressure from Oke, forced a penalty flick following a short corner routine; captain Luke Liversidge stepped up to dispatch the penalty to level the scores but pushed the ball just wide of the target.

Okehampton carried on relentlessly and levelled the scores from a short corner which Hall rifled into the roof of the net.

The home side pressed on, determined to take the lead and after a superb counter attack Tyrone Frances scored his debut goal for his new club by calmly slotting the ball past the keeper. The home side continued to apply pressure and after some superb link up play between Luke Miller and George Morgan, Morgan fired the ball past the keeper to make it 3-1 to Oke at half-time.

Both teams continued into the second half and were evenly contested throughout the half with both testing each other’s defences but to no avail. This victory means Okehampton keep pressure on league leaders Torbay.