Oke welcomed back ex coach Matt Tichas as he bought his Pethy side looking for their first away win of the season. After a well attended pre-match lunch, the crowd gathered in the rain as Okehampton kicked off with the wind and slope advantage. It didn’t take the home side long to score their first try , Saul Holliday picking up from the base of a five metre scrum to cross with barely a minute on the clock. Skipper Luke Simmons added the extras.

The hosts were completely on top in the early stages and soon extended their lead. An attempted kick out of defence from the visitors flew straight into the chest of Okes left-winger Marley Parker. The youngster gratefully accepting the gift and racing in for the host’s second try. Simmons again converting made the home side now 14 nil up with only five minutes gone. At this point it looked like it would be a long afternoon for visitors.

The first quarter belonged to the hosts and they extended their lead to 21 points after 18 minutes. This time after several phases, with space identified on the left,a cross kick found flanker James Stevens in acres of space to touchdown midway out. Another successful Simmons conversion followed.

Now feeling comfortable, midway through the half Okes began to switch off and concede numerous penalties. Many for high tackles some of which some of which were borderline at best. The home side lost Brad Curtis to the bin as a result. This saw Pethy grow in confidence, monopolising possession and territory until the interval arrived.

Weather conditions throughout the match were difficult, but the Sun did break through at times. However Oke’s start the second half was far from bright. The visitors struck first in the second half , with a good support score,to reduce the deficit to 14 points and encourage hopes of a comeback.

Oke put on their replacements, but the pattern of penalties continued Okes did get into scoring territory on a couple of occasions, but a penalty concession and then an intercepted pass put paid to those opportunities. The game was certainly attritional and it took until the last five minutes for Okey to collect their bonus point try. They ran the ball from deep and short, sharp passes instead of the long loopy variety, eventually saw full back Leon Horn released and he sped over to seal the match. Simmons added a good conversion. The match ended shortly after with little further incident.

So a valuable five point win but not one of Okes finest, however that’s two wins from three and a solid start to the league campaign. With the welcome return of several players this week, hopefully Okes can maintain momentum moving forward.

Next Saturday sees a break from League action as the Okes travel to Newton Abbot for a cup tie, your support as always would be much appreciated.

“Come on you Okes!”.