South West one (West)

Okehampton 17

OKEHAMPTON travelled across the county border determined to perform at the high flying All Blacks. They returned home victorious to sit at the summit of South West One.

It was billed as a potential classic, a local derby between two unbeaten sides, and this fierce encounter in which both sides gave it everything certainly lived up to the pre match billing. On a damp, drizzly afternoon, but on an excellent playing surface, the Okes began down the slope.

The visitors began with an intensity and commitment which was to remain in evidence throughout. The powerful Okes’ pack produced its best performance so far this campaign and gained an early ascendancy and were soon applying pressure on the home eight.

Okehampton disrupted Launceston possession and vice captain Dean Abrams came close to an early score after a hack ahead from skipper Tom McGrattan. The hosts escaped, but were still trapped deep in their own 22 yard line as the Okes sought to build a lead down the slight Polson incline. The Okes’ lineout secured early clean ball and the visitors went through the phases as they tested the All Blacks fringe defence. The ball was eventually moved right through the hands of the Oke inside backs to full back Dan Fogarty; the Okes number 15 cut a sweet line and stepped inside the cover to dive over for the opening five pointer after just four minutes.

The sizeable and vociferous travelling maroon and amber support celebrated. Fly half Jack Akery landed the extras on an afternoon where he’d go on to boast a 100% success rate from the tee. 

The home side came back right from the restart. A first spell of real home pressure brought them rewards in the shape of a penalty in front of the uprights. Fly half Glen Coles had no trouble in dispatching the kick to reduce the  deficit to four points.

The home set scrum  was however already starting to creak. The Oke front row of Nash, Evans and Dugard, revelling on his return to his old stomping ground, drove the home pack backwards at a rate of knots. Oke’s forward superiority was bringing forth penalties aplenty and several were punted into the bottom left corner as Okes strove for a second score. Line out takes and mauls aplenty followed as the Okes battered away at the home defence. Eventually the dam broke as Okes’ player coach Gareth Evans ploughed over from short range. Akery slotted the conversion to make it 14-3 with a quarter of this pulsating encounter gone. The only downside from the first 20 minutes for the visitors being the loss of forward Karl Pearce with a bicep injury, the big lock replaced by the equally sizeable Brad Curtis.

On 28 minutes another huge surge at a scrum saw the Oke eight glean another penalty in the Launceston half and Jack Akery struck another sweet goal to extend the margin to 14 points.

The Okes knew they had to maintain their levels of effort and commitment up the hill in the second forty. A combination of stout defence and drizzle assisted errors allowed the Okes to see out the early stages of the second period, and the hosts looked increasingly frustrated as no score was forthcoming.

The visitors slowly began to gain momentum and spent periods in the home half searching for the score that would surely seal the win. A cute cross kick from Akery nearly resulted in a try for Luke Honeychurch but the winger could not quite remain in play. However, the Okes looked increasingly comfortable as fifty five minutes ticked away on the clock, but there was soon to be the inevitable twist in the tail of this committed encounter.

Oke forward forays brought play up to the Launceston 10 metre line, then the visitors took a rare wrong option. As the ball was moved into a crowded midfield an attempted pass was snaffled on the intercept by All Black Ryan Western, who run in under the bar to suddenly bring the contest back into the balance after Coles added the extras.

The home side’s tails were now up and the Okes’ woes soon increased when they lost both prop Pat Nash and flanker Dean Abrams to the bin within a couple of minutes.

Twenty minutes still remained and the hosts went for the jugular. Oke commitment and determination came to the fore during this tricky spell though and they  defended heroically whilst down to 13 men. Launceston tried to force the game and a two more strong Oke set pieces helped to relive the pressure, before the cavalry finally returned with no further addition to the scoreline.

In the last 10 minutes Oke lost replacement and debutant Cory Moore with a nasty looking knee injury. The pressure was still being piled on as the hosts searched for  a levelling score. Okes defence continued to merit superlatives though, with Richie Friend and Bevan Armitage to the fore. The last minute arrived and the Okes had to defend another midfield scrum. Appropriately one last huge effort saw the Okes drive the hosts backwards, and after possession was regained the Okes kicked the ball out to seal a memorable victory.

There was a breathless encounter that speaks volumes for the effort and skill levels of both sides given the conditions. Ultimately the Okes were victorious though and they will take great heart from this win that takes them to the top of the league, albeit early days in this testing campaign.