South West one West

Okehampton 25

Keynsham 21

OKEHAMPTON knew this would be their sternest test yet and so it proved. A first half lead was ultimately just sufficient to maintain their unbeaten start to the season.

It is now three from three for the Okes as they remain in contention at the top of table. This match was nearly a banana skin though, as they failed to show anything near their best form and had to battle hard to hold off a competitive Keynsham outfit.

The hosts lost the toss and received the kick off playing down the slope. Right from the off the Okes fumbled the reception and allowed Keynsham to keep possession using their pack to punch up via the narrow channels. The visitors soon gained a penalty but the kick was wide though and the Okes sought to escape their confines, albeit without much success. More penalties and errors ensued before eventually the Okes gained a foothold in the opposition half after ten minutes.

After seeing off the initial onslaught the Okes started to glean both ball and ground. A penalty chance was short from home fly half Jack Akery on 13 minutes, but just three minutes later he accepted another opportunity from closer range to give the Okes a 3-0 lead.

The home side then started to gain control and despite a completely malfunctioning line-out the hosts imparted enough pressure to stretch their lead with another Akery penalty kick.

Okehampton continued to camp in the Keynsham half as they strove for a sizeable half time lead. The home scrum was firmly on the front foot, and on the half hour mark the Okes gained a five metre put-in, after a Joey Bruce chip and chase had forced the hosts to ground behind their own try line.

The pack forced three consecutive set piece penalties as the hosts struggled to cope but eventually Okes’ number eight Gareth Evans powered over for the first try of the match. Akery converted and Okes were slowly building the required advantage.

Nearing the interval the visitors cleared their lines from deep in their own half to the Okes’ 22. Dan Fogerty fed winger Gareth Espin. He cut back against the grain and made significant yardage down the right flank before feeding scrum half Bruce on his inside. The nippy number nine raced in under the bar for a cracking score to stretch the Oke’s advantage. Akery added the simple extras. Twenty points was a decent margin. The maroon and ambers had a little left in the tank though and as the Keynsham deference became increasingly stretched right on half time, several phases produced an opening up the left wing where loose head prop Pat Nash was lurking and he slid over wide out to make it a 25-0 half time scoreline.

The second half was almost the complete opposite of the first, right from the off the Okes continued to accumulate penalties against them and the visitors had no hesitation in kicking to the corners to benefit from their well oiled lineout.

Only five minutes in and another Oke penalty and error combination allowed Keynsham to profit from a close range lineout to open their account with seven points. Just five more minutes had elapsed when yet another Keynsham lineout was the catalyst for the visitors forward based second try, grounded right by the posts leaving it 25-14 with half an hour still to go. Further Oke lineout deficiencies ensured the next ten minutes continued to see the visitors with the upper hand.

Fifteen minutes still remained and once more the Okes were unable to prevent the visitors rumbling over and it was now all up for grabs at just 25-21.

Oke finally retained possession in the Keynsham half and a penalty in front of the posts with eight minutes remaining was the reward. Unfortunately it went wide as the Okes failed to relieve the growing pressure.

Time ticked away and the Okes created another opening that came to nothing after a clean break via replacement Tom McGrattan. In the nail-biting finale penalties and errors abounded. The visitors lost a player to the bin but the Okes still could not finish them off.  In fact it took a couple of vital turnovers at the climax to seal the victory as the Okes kicked the ball off to signal the end of a pulsating encounter.

This was not a match for those of a nervous disposition.

The visitors do deserve full credit for their never say die performance, the Okes held on though and were rewarded with another win.