The first period saw Camels on the attack with great defending by the young Oke side. In particular the line speed of the Okes was nullifying just about every attacking move by the large Camels forwards. However, on 10 minutes the first Oke infringement saw no 10 James Grubb put Camels ahead. Camels continued to have the greater share of possession but on 13 minutes an Oke turnover saw Luke Honeychurch on a great break almost up to the Camels line. Good defending this time by the Camels back row saw off the attack. The speedy Oke back line was now beginning to get into it’s stride and pose serious questions of the Camels defence. After 20 minutes a Camels breakout seriously threatened the Oke line but a great tackle by Joey Bruce saw off the danger. The Oke scrum was also giving the Camels serious problems and one scrum on half way saw the Oke 8 march their counterparts back 10 metres. On 25 minutes Oke were awarded a penalty for hands in the ruck and Luke Simmons who had another good afternoon, brought the score to 3-3. Play was now very open with both sides throwing everything into attack. Joey Bruce made a great break but the ball was turned over and eventually went through several pairs of hands before Camels winger Dan Briskham scored out wide. The conversion missed and Camels were 8-3 up. After 30 minutes Rhys Palmer who had played so well against Truro the previous Saturday came off to be replaced by Captain Tom Powell. Play at this stage became very open with Camels continuously infringing conceding 5 penalties in a short space of time. Rory Honeychurch came close to scoring only to be denied by last gasp defending by Camels. Nick Kitchen was replaced by Langy just before half time and another solid Oke scrum saw a great try by Joey Bruce after intense Oke pressure. Half time saw Oke 10-8 in the lead.
The second half began with another penalty to Camels for offside and was duly converted by James Grubb. The No 10 was now using the strengthening wind to kick to the corners. General play was becoming scrappy from both sides with many infringements. Oke was becoming frustrated with some of the decisions. After another passage of play a good try by Centre Cam Lees wide on the left saw Camels take a 16-10 lead. Again fly half Grubb was using the wind to good effect. However, Oke were not finished and Rhys Palmer who had come back to replace the injured Luke Honeychurch scored a great try after great build up work by the pack. The attempted conversion just sailed wide of the posts and shortly after the final whistle saw Oke go down by just one point.
A frustrating day for Oke who had their chances but came up against a Camels side under new coach Mike Rawlings from Cornish All Blacks & Cornwall who simply had to win! Again Oke were up against a much bigger physical outfit but they never took a backward step and look to be maturing into a well drilled side under player coach Gaz Evans. Next Saturday sees the visit of Devonport Services to Oaklands in what promises to be another hard-fought encounter. Our young side (not Langy!) deserve your support so please try to make the effort to come along and bring a friend.