South West one (West)

Okehampton 25

North Petherton 26

SNATCHING defeat from the jaws of victory is becoming an unwanted trait for the Okes this campaign writes Adam Holliday.

Weather conditions meant that volunteers from the ORFC committee were required to fork the pitch pre match to ensure the game would go ahead. It did, but the surface was a muddy, sticky one throughout. Oke played against the incline first up and the early stages saw both sides turnover ball as defences ruled the roost.

Pethy produced some effective play play on the quarter hour mark and were rewarded with a straightforward penalty kick which was slotted by their hooker Williams to establish an early 3-0 lead. Okes soon responded, but an attacking foray came to an end after one of far too many botched lineouts, Okes achilles heel all afternoon. It wasn’t long until the Okes did get on the scoreboard though, as Tom Powell potted a penalty after Okes powerful scrum forced a turnover to level things up.

Visiting hooker Williams was then lucky to stay on the field after a deliberate knock on, whilst several high no arms tackles were also only punished by a penalty. As the half entered its last five minutes Okes were ramping up the pressure and a Richie Friend box kick was well chased by winger Ryan Lee who forced a penalty for holding on. The ever alert Friend took a quick tap penalty and scooted in under the bar to give the hosts the lead. Tom Powell added the simple extras, and at 10-3 ahead up the slope, nothing more than a home victory looked on the cards. However, Okes have a propensity to switch off near the interval and concede unnecessary scores. This occurred again this weekend as Petherton took advantage of needless penalties and handling errors from the Okes to force an attacking position. Poor defence then saw Okes buy a dummy and allow the visiting nine to cross for a score, that when converted, tied things up at the break.

Still at 10 all and with conditions in their favour second half, Okes were in the box seat. The second half commenced and Pethy kicked the restart straight out giving Okes a strong field position. Less than two minutes later, after the ball had been switched from side to side, the Okes nearly overdid things before finally stretching the visiting defence sufficiently for winger Ryan Lee to score wide out on the right. Tom Powell slotted an excellent conversion from wide out and all looked rosy once more. Now on top, Okes forced another penalty award five minutes later and Powell landed it from bang in front to stretch the lead to ten points with half an hour to play.

Things then started to get really scrappy and the Okes made changes which seemed to disrupt the hosts. Handling errors and penalty concessions increased, allowing Pethy to get back into a contest they should’ve been out of. A penalty kick from Williams, again from bang in front for a needless offside reduced the arrears, before slack defence as Pethy seemed to be heading nowhere after numerous midfield phases, allowed the visitors to cross for a controverted try that once again brought the sides level, this time at twenty points apiece. The end to end pattern continued as The Okes finally used the boot effectively after 65 minutes to force an attacking lineout. Finally the Okes secured their own ball and a catch and drive ensued which ended with hooker George Trerise at the bottom to emerge with five more points for the home side. The conversion was missed, but the Okes were back in front and looking to seal victory.

Unfortunately the last quarter of an hour was not what the Okes required as more penalties for offside, and a passive defensive line, saw Pethy build momentum and slot two more straightforward penalties from in front as the Okes continued to creep offside in dangerous positions. Now a point down in a match they should’ve been comfortably ahead in , Okes forced themselves back on the attack in the last minutes. Finally they were awarded a penalty as time ticked away. Tom Powell stepped up to pot the goal that would bring victory, but it went wide and Pethy gleefully saw out the remaining seconds to secure a victory that saw them go above the Okes in the table. A remarkable mirror image of the earlier away fixture where Okes also missed a last minute penalty after being in control for the majority of the game.

This was a tough one to take for the Okes. A game they had control of, but one which they let slip through a combination of factors that need to be rectified if the season isn’t to fizzle out