South West one West

OKEHAMPTON 36

NORTH PETHERTON 10

AFTER two narrow defeats against the same opposition last season, this time Okehampton ran out clear winners to keep up the pressure at the top of the league.

On another glorious sun laden afternoon at the Showground, the Okes began up the hill but it was the visitors who monopolised initial possession. North Petherton arrived with their expected sizeable, combative pack and they had early ball in midfield from which they failed to create any discernible openings. The Okes were soon the side on the attack and looked threatening, as they did all afternoon, whenever the ball was given any real width. After just four minutes the home side took the lead, via a set scrum, when vice captain Dean Abrams scooted over after a nice inside pass from skipper and back row partner Tom McGrattan. Richie Friend potted the extras for an early seven point advantage.

The contrasting styles were already evident but the Okes looked comfortable against the slope and staring into the bright sunshine. Play was a little scrappy and it took until the 12th minute for the next real opening to appear. The Okes put together a flowing, fluent movement with forwards and backs combining nicely. Left winger Kieran Lee was the beneficiary of  a well created overlap and he finished nicely in the top left corner to extend the Okes lead to 12-0. The conversion was just wide but at this point all seemed comfortable for the home side. Oke’s discipline was much improved this week and the visitors were well marshalled by the home defensive line when in possession. Play was mainly confined to the middle third for the next quarter as both sides failed to get a firm grip on the game. There seemed little threat when the Somerset visitors moved the ball to the short side, down Okes’ right, in the 35th minute. However a missed tackle on the North Petherton out half allowed him to ghost over in the bottom right corner for a try against the run of play. Experienced full back Roberts landed a fine conversion and suddenly it was game on at 12-7 to the hosts.

Boosted by their score, the visitors attacked again as the half neared its climax. They were rewarded with a penalty chance on the break and Roberts landed it to make it just 12-10 at the half time whistle. A scoreline that looked extremely unlikely after the Okes encouraging start.

The second 40 minutes commenced and the home side knew the chances would come if they moved the ball sufficiently, as they looked to tire the visitors’ hefty pack.

Early signs were promising and on 46 minutes the Okes gained another penalty within Richie Friend’s range. The kick was good and the lead was now five points. Five minutes later and after another Okes penalty and a kick to the corner, the maroon and ambers were hunting their third try. The lineout was good but the attempted drive was held up and a North Petherton scrum was the result. The Okes grasped their opportunity and applied a huge surge that drove the visitors off their own ball. Tom  McGrattan demonstrated good ball control to ground the five pointer and the hosts were back in control at 22-10, after Friend’s third successful kick of the afternoon.

The match entered the last quarter and the Okes brought on the last of their replacements, Rhys Palmer. The talented centre back was soon having an immediate impact on proceedings. Okehampton attacked wide from a scrum on the left and when the ball reached Palmer he showed his class with an outside break, hand off and deft offload to put Luke Honeychurch in the clear; the right winger dashed in for the Oke’s bonus point try, which when Richie Friend added the extras, made it a 19 point advantage for the home side.

To their credit North Petherton responded and the Okes were forced to defend stoutly for the next ten minutes. Some crunching hits going in and tempers became slightly frayed. The hosts held firm and spilled ball allowed the Okes to move downfield as the match approached its conclusion. An attacking lineout saw the Okes score a try clinically. Ball off the top was crisply shifted through the back’s hands resulting in Kieran Lee giving fellow winger Luke Honeychurch an overlap pass, and he raced over to bag his brace after another strong display. Dan Fogarty landed the conversion in the absence of  the now injured Richie Friend, to make it a comprehensive final score of 36-10 to the  Okes. So in all, despite a dodgy period during the second quarter, the Okes were in control and displayed patches of fine play, particularly out wide where their backs always looked threatening.

Okehampton maintain their unbeaten home record.