South West one

Chard 17

Okehampton 11

IT may have been a first league visit to Chard, but the match story was ‘oh too familiar’ for the Okes.

On a dark, dim and damp afternoon, Oke succumbed to yet another last gasp try and had to settle for just a losing bonus point in another match they should have won.

Chard are struggling at the bottom of the table but have taken the drastic steps of importing four impressive South Africans in an effort to stave off relegation. They have certainly played their part in the home side’s recent improvement, but, regardless, the Okes dominated the second half, despite being down to 13 men for a spell, and should have secured a valuable away victory.

Okehampton travelled minus the injured Courtier, Trerise, Turner and Abrams. However, the squad was still a strong one and with minutes left on the clock it looked likely they would could home with four points. 

The match began in near darkness as the available lights just about provided enough clarity to view the proceedings. Okehampton began down the slope and butchered an early opportunity as a close range lineout was overthrown.

It soon became apparent that the hosts had a competitive set piece at scrum time, and the Okes had already struggled once when Chard were awarded a five-metre attacking opportunity. On the retreat, Oke hacked the ball out of the set piece but home back rower Jason Wright was in the right place to ground the loose ball. The conversion was landed by their South African out half, who was impressive with the boot throughout, and the Okes were 7-0 down in as many minutes.

Conditions played their part as defences were on top for the majority of the first quarter. Neither side really created much out wide although Oke full back Gareth Espin had a couple of promising looking forays that came to nothing. After 18 minutes another midfield breakdown was curtailed as Oke back rowers Cox and Lawrence forced the hosts to hold on illegally. Richie Friend slotted the resultant penalty and the visitors were on the board.

The Okes had already brought on stalwart Ian Langbridge into the front row to stiffen the scrum, but the experienced prop was soon pinged at scrum time, as the hosts missed two long range penalty chances in ten minutes. A third chance arrived after 33 minutes as the visitors were penalised for a midfield offside, and this time the home fly half found his range to restore the host’s seven-point margin.

Langbridge was penalised again at a scrum after 41 minutes and saw yellow as a result. Nicky Martin was restored to the line up at the next scrummage as Oke shuffled their 14 men with half time approaching. The remainder of the half saw play camped between the 22 yard lines.

Down to 14 and with the slope and wind in the host’s favour, Okehampton began the second half with increased urgency. They looked likely to score after 47 minutes but instead found themselves reduced to just 13 remaining men as player/ coach Gareth Evans was sin binned at an attacking ruck. The Okes regrouped and just two minutes later centre Kevin Dennis made a clean break in a match of hardly any; he was brought down after a high tackle by the last defender. Okehampton did receive a penalty as a reward, though, and Richie Friend was once more on target to reduce the arrears to four.

The Okes slowly returned to a full compliment, and into the last quarter they began to take control. Rarely leaving the home half, they gained two difficult penalty chances but unfortunately both efforts by Friend were awry.

Entering the last 15 minutes Oke battered away at the home line through a series of driving mauls. Numerous penalties were awarded before finally, a home lock was carded after persistent infringement. Oke continued to strive for the score that would bring them the lead for the first time only to be held up, on several occasions. Eventually the dam broke and it was prop Nicky Martin who eventually scored to the delight of the travelling support.

Only minutes remained as the Okes set for the restart. However, once more the visitors failed to secure the kick off and a scrum resulted. The hosts then moved the ball. The visitors were disappointed as a short pop pass enabled the Chard centre to crash through a normally staunch Oke midfield defence before ploughing over to the left of the uprights. The kick was a simple one and Oke had only managed to retain their precious lead for barely a minute, and with virtually no time left another agonising defeat loomed.

The Okes bravely moved the ball through successive phases in the seconds remaining and entered the home red zone, only to knock on for the final whistle to be blown.

So another narrow defeat on the road, in a match that could have gone either way. Chard deserve credit for their resilience as they fight for survival, but the visitors know once more that they should have sewn the game up and brought home a valuable away win.

This season is a learning curve for this young homegrown squad and from adversity comes strength.