Western Counties West

Okehampton 20

Truro 6

OKEHAMPTON lost the toss and elected to play downhill with a strong wind at their backs. After five minutes Truro gave away a penalty at the scrum on the ten metre line and Okehampton skipper Tom Powell landed a penalty to give the home side a three point lead.

Immediately from the restart Okehampton failed to clear their lines and gave away a penalty in their own 22, giving Truro’s Craig Williams an easy shot to level the scores.

Okehampton then tried to use the wind to gain ground but only succeeded in giving away possession with wasteful kicks. But then an excellent break from fly half Tom Fogerty saw centre Matt Johns held up over the Truro line. From the resulting scrum the Okehampton pack put in a great drive which the Truro pack held up illegally, giving away a penalty try in front of the posts to give the home team a 10-3 lead.

The next Truro attack once again saw Okehampton fail to clear their lines, and give away a penalty which Williams slotted to take the score to 10-6.

Then, with 30 minutes gone, Oke scrum half Joey Bruce made a great break up the blind side; a passing interchange between Bruce, Gareth Espin and Luke Honeychurch saw Honeychurch run in for a try to the right of the posts. Tom Powell kicked the conversion to give Okehampton a 17-6 lead at half time.

The second half saw Okehampton start well, pressing forward in the clubhouse corner but they failed to convert the pressure into points. A penalty awarded for a scrum infringement let Truro escape the pressure. The match then played out in the middle of the field for a long period of stalemate. Truro failed to make use of the wind, now at their backs, and Okehampton defended well.

The Okehampton pack began to dominate and had the best of the play but could not convert the possession into points. The only score of the second half came when Okehampton were awarded a penalty with about five minutes to go. Tom Powell stepped up to slot the kick over and effectively close the game out at 20-6.

This left Oke looking much the better team on the day and keeps up the excellent progress the team is making this season, while maintaining their position in the top three of the Western Counties’ League.