Western Counties West

Okehampton 1st XV 11

Sidmouth 1st XV 10

AFTER their recent run of strong performances, the Okes had a rare off day but still came away with four valuable points.

A team can not be at the top of its form all the time, but if Oke want to maintain their promotion push they will have to improve on this performance in their remaining fixtures. However, the ability to grind out a win when not playing well is one oft displayed by successful sides at all levels.

Sidmouth arrived in decent form and pushed Oke all the way with a strong performance, particularly in defence. Oke’s day started badly when key attacking player Gareth Espin pulled out before kick-off, and they never really hit their stride throughout.

A strong, bitter breeze blew uphill and behind the visitors as they gathered the initial kick off, but they immediately infringed allowing Okes an early chance. Home skipper Tom Powell potted the resultant three pointer, and Oke were off to a great start.

Okes were looking fluent at this point and had an early edge up front that continued throughout. Eight minutes had elapsed when Okes were awarded another difficult penalty chance, but they chose to go for posts when a kick to the corner may have been the better option. The chance was missed, and two minutes later Sidmouth were wide with a similar effort after Okes were penalised for holding on.

Oke continued to drive Sidmouth, but were already falling foul of several strange decisions as the penalty count climbed. After 24 minutes Sidmouth were awarded a defensive scrum.

Oke drove the visitors back off their own ball and home number eight Tom McGratton added to his growing try tally with another pushover effort. The conversion was awry, but at 8-0 Okey were hopeful of extending their lead before the interval.

However things then started to go against the hosts. Firstly scrum half Joey Bruce saw yellow for an alleged no arms tackle. Then slowly but surely errors crept into the home side’s play.

Missed touch kicks, handling errors and most surprisingly missed tackles, all combined with the ever growing penalty count against them meant there was no further score in the first forty.

Okes turned around looking to gain the next score and to stretch their lead. Unfortunately the play was still scrappy with both side’s defences dominant. Okes were then boosted by the second half appearance, after almost a year out through injury, of young centre Rhys Palmer from the bench. The crowd saw Tom Powell missed another penalty chance for the Okes before visiting full back Bess finally got the green machine on the board with a penalty goal. The next quarter saw a familiar pattern emerge, Okes increasingly dominant scrum attempting to grind down the visiting eight. On several occasions a pushover score looked likely, but each time the referee called for resets when penalties or cards seemed more appropriate. Eventually the ball was cleared and another Oke chance had gone astray.

Entering the last quarter, Oke suffered a further blow when scrum half Joey Bruce was forced to leave the field through injury. Oke reshuffled and finally extended their lead through another Tom Powell penalty to provide a modicum of breathing space. However Oke couldn’t find the required score to put the game completely out of Sid’s reach, as the game increasingly struggled for any kind of fluency. Sidmouth were finally penalised for persistent infringements and lost a forward to the bin. They then requested uncontested scrums which immediately removed an important attacking option for the Okes. The referee then increased the home ire as he incorrectly allowed the visitors to play out the remainder of the match with a full fifteen when the sin binning was up, contrary to league rules.

Fortunately it didn’t cost the home side the win, as despite losing flanker Liam Sampson to injury, there was no further score as the match entered its last play. Oke switched off out wide defensively in the last minute though, as they got sucked in unnecessarily which allowed right winger Wells-Burr to cross in the corner with the last move of the contest. Bess slotted the conversion and the final whistle sounded.

This wasn’t a great showing from the hosts, but it was still a win, and one that keeps the boys in maroon and amber nicely tucked in behind the leading two and with games in hand.

Next weekend sees a tough double header for the Okes over Easter, as they first face Devonport Services at home on Saturday, followed by a trip to Truro on Easter Monday. The Okes will look to rediscover their recent good form and would appreciate your support in the their continued quest for promotion.