There was an immaculately observed minutes applause before the kick off as the club said goodbye to Ted 'Mr ORFC' Cann. The man who epitomised all that is good about Okehampton Rugby Club, was surely looking down with approval and a smile on his face as his beloved charges produced a gritty second half display, smattered with the occasional flourish, to secure another valuable four league points.

It was deja vu as the Okes lost another toss and were forced to play down the slope on a grey but dry afternoon at the Showground. Okes named an unchanged starting fifteen, but failed to start with any verve or vigour as the Forest Of Dean based visitors started on the front foot. Okes early cause was not helped by inaccuracies and wasteful kicking, traits that figured regularly, particularly during the first forty. In fact after only five minutes the hosts had conceded a penalty bang in front, from which the Newent winger potted an easy goal to plunder an early three point advantage.

The home side began to secure possession on a more frequent basis and soon earned a difficult penalty chance of their own, unfortunately it drifted wide, the first of several unsuccessful attempts from the home place kickers. Okes were slowly imposing themselves though, and the scoring chances started to come. Some risky offloads and wrong options helped the visitors defensive cause until,on sixteen minutes, the Okes struck for their first five pointer of the afternoon. Not for the first time this season it was Oke centre Rhys Palmer who was the catalyst as he straightened the line powerfully to breach the defensive line in midfield. A turn of pace followed by a perfectly timed pass put Okes right winger Ryan Lee in the clear. The young flankman dashed over to the give the Okes a lead they would never relinquish. The tricky conversion was wide, and the Okes knew that they need a more significant advantage than two points to take into the second forty up the slope.

Oke upped the tempo via quick tap penalties and offloads, but too frequently an error or concession of a needless penalty allowed the visitors to escape any further damage, as they clung on grimly despite being on the back foot for long periods of the first forty. The match was very fragmented as the referees whistle , and handling errors by both sides, prevented any flow at this point. Then on 32 minutes the visitors prop saw yellow for a tip tackle, this allowed Okes further ascendancy as they sought the vital second score before the break.A series of five meter scrums seemed certain to bring a penalty try until the decision surprisingly went the visitors way, allowing another clearance kick to touch. Just as it looked like the score would remain 5-3 at the changeover, Kieran Lee, playing on the left wing, sniffed out an interception and raced away from halfway to secure a vital second try before the interval. The extras were off target again, but at least the Okes had a modicum of daylight as the half time whistle blew shortly afterwards.

Okes knew they had a battle on their hands, although the visitors hadn't created any clear cut try scoring chances in the first half. The hosts needed to start more brightly than they did at the start of the match, but failed to do so and were penalised almost directly from the restart. The kick was slotted, and the Oke's lead was quickly reduced to a mere four points with virtually the whole second half remaining. Newent continued to huff and puff without really threatening greatly, their cause not helped by an impressive defensive shift from the entire Okes outfit as hit upon hit repelled the visitors all over the pitch. Neil Perrott and Pat Nash were imperious in their defensive duties and ball carrying alike, as the home side refused to go into their second half shell as they had done whilst playing up the slope on their last two home outings.

The match remained a tense affair, still hanging in the balance as it entered its last ten minutes. The home side entered attacking territory once more and were denied by a dropped scoring pass, then a missed visitors knock on as the tension and frustration grew. It just needed one moment of magic to seal the deal, and it arrived with eight minutes remaining, to the vociferous delight of the home supporters. Yet again it was the Okes outstanding threat, Rhys Palmer, that sent the crowd into raptures. This time he was initially put away up the left wing by a superbly timed pass from replacment centre Gary Sizmur, returning to the matchday squad after a lengthy absence. There was still a huge amount of work to do at this point , but Palmer stepped inside the first defender, cutting a sumptuous line as he then glided inside once more before finally scything over to the left of the posts for a fabulous score. Full back Luke Simmons had now taken over kicking duties and drop goaled the conversion to give the hosts a valuable eleven point lead.

Newent now needed two scores in the few minutes that were left on the clock . A succession of penalties and failure to clear lines when the chance arose allowed the visitors to camp in the Okes twenty two. The Okes defence remained its resolute self though and held out until the last minute, when the visitors thought they had scored in the bottom right corner. However the rer adjudged it knocked on in the tackle, signalling the final whistle, to bring this tense encounter to a close. Its three win on the trot now as the Okes continue to climb the table as they slowly get acclimatised to their new back pitch environment. Next Saturday brings forth a trip to North Petherton with all kick offs now 2.30pm as we move towards the crucial winter period. Okes will look to keep their recent record winning intact, and your support would certainly help their cause..

Okehampton RFC

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