Okehampton looked to maintain their merit table aspirations with a home game against high flying Exmouth who had yet to concede a point in a 100% merit table record to date this season.

Playing with the slope the Oke’s forwards had to contend with an early storm from the visitors in which an intimidatory approach saw the home side coming off consistently 2nd place in any 50/50 situations . Several threatening passages of play from a slick looking Exmouth outfit fell short of the initial score through some resolute defence from an Oke’s side that through these early exchanges looked far from composed.

Having dealt with the early pressure the home side started to enjoy some territorial advantage and with some indiscipline at the break down from the South Devon side, Jamie Stevens calmly slotted a penalty for the first points of the game.

The remainder of the half saw the Okes gradually assert control over the game and from a copy of the earlier incident , Stevens put a second kick through the sticks for a 6 point lead.

Pete Gillard was starting to secure a steady stream of ball from the line out and with Fishliegh , Steptoe and Knott forcing the visitors onto the back foot both in attack and defence , the remaining 15 minutes of the first half saw hosts camped in the Exmouth 22 area but through some excellent defence from the visitors and a few wrong options from the Okes , a much welcomed score leading into half time proved elusive with the second half starting at 6 – 0 to the Okes.

The second half began with continued control of both possession and territory and after the forwards – being excellently led by captain Will Hawking who led from the front all afternoon – had worked the ball out wide through some good close quarter drives , the ball was moved slickly down the back line for wing Callum Ausden to finish well in the corner for an excellent early try.

The Okes were now playing with great control and confidence . The mid field of Rickerby and Windthorpe were forcing a stream of errors from the Ex midfield and with Kev Dennis supporting his fellow backs superbly , regular turnover ball was paying dividends and it wasn’t long before Ausden again benefitted from good handling to see him again outstrip the defence for his second try.

With several changes to personnel being made the Okes were able to maintain their momentum . Chris Pyle was throwing well at the lineout with Harvey Ratcliffe and Hawking taking some excellent ball with several catch and drives being brought down inches short of the line.

In the loose Rob Steptoe, who was outstanding throughout – and Oli Scantlebury , continued to hassle the opposition out of the game and further territorial advantage saw Ausden complete his own exhibition of excellent finishing with his hat trick try.

The final 15 minutes saw the Exmouth lads try to gain something from the game that saw them launch a sustained series of attacks on the Okes line. Superb defence , especially from Jack Phare who made a number of last man standing tackles as well as being solid and secure under the high ball. The determination to not concede a score – even at a stage with the game won – was testimony to the spirit and resolve of this rapidly developing Okehampton Colts side.

Against a well drilled and physical side, this was a performance of great character as well as not to little skill and should be an excellent platform from which the Okes can mount a serious merit table challenge.

Following last weeks excellent win at Crediton , the Oke’s had their first home game of the season against merit table favourites Exeter Chiefs.

With the home side playing up the slope in the first half , the early exchanges were evenly contested with both sets of forwards going toe to toe with no quarter being asked for or given . Showing confidence with ball in hand, the visitors were making good ground in open play but at the breakdown the hosts were proving more than a match managing to turnover possession and force errors that resulted in 2 penalties to the Okes which unfortunately could not be converted into points.

With captain Will Hawking once again leading from the front , the forwards continued to force the Chiefs into errors and from a turn over at a ruck Kev Dennis was only fractionately wide with a well struck drop goal attempt.

In the backs the Exeter side were showing great pace and although Cameron Rickerby was once again proving a defensive nuisance in mid field , some good ball skills saw the Chiefs strong running and athletic winger score a good individual try after weaving his way through the Okes defence for the opening score of the game which was unconverted.

Most of the rest of the half was evenly contested but with 5 minutes to the interval , the Okes were penalised at the breakdown with the visitors putting themselves deep into the Oke’s 22 with a good touch kick. Despite defending manfully, the hosts defence was finally undone with a well worked try , again unconverted , that saw the half time score 0 -10 to the visitors.

Having regrouped at half time the Okes set about the second half in determined fashion putting pressure on the Chiefs at every opportunity that again brought it’s rewards with ball being turned over at regular intervals . Unfortunately the hard earn’t possession couldn’t be turned into points and having weathered the storm, the visitors again put ball through hand to good effect forcing a penalty within range which was converted with some relief as it gave some welcomed breathing space against opposition that , certainly in the forwards , was getting ever more determined as the game went on.

The frustration being created by the Okes pack of 8, where Chris Knott , Rob Steptoe and Oli Scantlebury were particularly effective, eventually came to the surface with the referee sending a player from each side to the sin bin to allow control to be resumed although Jordan Lee should feel somewhat aggrieved at being dispatched to the bin having had no part in the preceding fracas .

Although the visitors maintained their threat through a skilled back line, being given a little bit to much room for comfort by the Okes three quarters , the home side kept putting the pressure on but despite being camped close to the Chiefs line for most of the last 15 minutes, they could not manage the breakthrough required to score the all important try that would have set up a thrilling finale to a hard fought game .

The skilled Chiefs outfit deserved their win but having scored nothing less than 40 points in every game so far this season, they faced a stern test of their resolve .The Okes applied pressure and disruption that should allow them to return to Sandy Park later in the season with confidence knowing that tighter defence in open play and some rub of the green might well have provided a different result on this occasion.

Next week. Merit Table against Bideford (Away)     

Following last weeks narrow victory at Crediton , Okehampton Colts returned to the Blagdon for their first merit table fixture of the season .

A wounded Crediton began in earnest fashion determined to reverse the previous week’s defeat but with the Okes weathering the early storm, the home side’s passion resulted in a less than focused approach that saw them concede a string of penalties for indiscretions at the break down.

Kevin Dennis used these opportunities to continually push Crediton back into their own 22 and with Merrick Kirby cleaning up in the line out with accurate throwing from Brad Hudson , the resultant pressure brought about further penalty opportunities with Dennis taking advantage with three first half successes that saw the half time score 0 – 9 .

The first half was not all about penalties with the young Okehampton side making excellent use of possession keeping their hosts on the back foot with Oli Scantlebury making a series of probing runs and but for a pass delivered a fraction of a second to late , Jack Phare would have been in for the first touch down of the game. In defence the Okes were showing a very cool head in terms of discipline conceding only two penalties with any short range attacks from ruck or maul being driven back with Chris Knott having a great game fulfilling the No. 6 role to perfection supported well by Darcy Heard who as usual showed great commitment in the tackle.

Playing up the slope and against the wind , it would seem that the visitors would have it all to do in the second half but thankfully nobody told them that !. From some impressive pick up and drives from close quarters with Andrew Fishliegh , Ben Kearley & Rob Steptoe prominent the Oke’s again pushed deep into Crediton territory. With the home side conceding yet another penalty , Dennis’s kick to touch pushed the visitors into the home 22. From the line out , Kirby again secured clean ball and once released, Dennis in the 10 slot ,beat his man and crashed over . Converting his own extras took the score to 0 -16.

Predictably the home side now went for broke and while the referee finally lost patience with their indiscipline at the breakdown by committing a second row to the sin bin, their passion finally began to result in territorial advantage seeing them camped in the Okes 22 area for long periods. The defensive discipline of the visitors was superb with every line remaining intact . Close range attacks were again repelled quite often with the hosts losing ground . In mid field Jo Taylor ,Cameron Rickerby and Dennis mostly bottled things up with Taylor putting in a few crunchers . On the flanks Jack Phare was again solid with Jamie Stevens chasing everything down . Si Fellows at full back was very secure and dealt well with everything Crediton threw at him.

With the game well into the last quarter the hosts determination to get back into the game started to become ever more frustrated with some unsavoury use of the boot being justly dealt with via another visit to the sin bin. The game was finally secured when some ambitious handling was intercepted by Cameron Rickerby and after two split second passes the ball came to Jamie Stevens who showed the Crediton defence a clean pair of heels to sprint 2/3rds of the pitch to touch down under the posts with Dennis converting to bring the final score to 0 -23 to the Okes.

This was a performance of great character from this young side. With captain Will Hawking leading well by example , the 3 D’s of Determination , Discipline and Defence executed with cool heads won the day.

Next week Merit Table game – Exeter Chiefs at Home KO 3.00pm.

Following late cancellations Crediton and Okehampton Colts met in a hastily rearranged game at Crediton.

The hosts are one of the fancied teams this season and with the Okes rebuilding with a young squad after 2 successful seasons , the visitors expectations were realistic rather than high.

Playing down the slope the young Okes got off to a good start with Andrew Fishliegh taking a good catch from the Kick off making good ground before a solid ruck allowed Kev Dennis plenty of time to push play deep into the home half with a good touch clearance .

Having gained territorial advantage the visitors made sure that this is where they stayed for most of the first half. As the game progressed the Okehampton lads grew in confidence and with solid defence in all areas Crediton were finding it increasingly difficult to break the gain line. Cameron Rickerby and Joe Taylor were proving rock solid in mid-field where their larger opponents were constantly thwarted by an efficient rush defence. Chris Knott was also making a nuisance of himself at No.6 putting in some big hits on the fringes of the breakdowns.

In the set piece Ben Kearley was having a great afternoon causing his opposite prop all sorts of problems with the Crediton scrum being regularly disrupted.

The first score was proving elusive with Jamie Stevens being the closest to breaking the dead lock being bundled into touch inches short of the line after the ball was spun wide.

The first half ended without a point on the board.

The Okes could be forgiven for thinking that they would have their work cut out playing up the slope in the second half but after an early kick went directly into touch conceding ground they regrouped and with some excellent positional kicking from Kev Dennis the visitors were once again in Crediton territory. After a series of rucks and plays that broke the gain line, the young Okes team smelt the white wash and an excellent series of pick & drives saw Ben Kearley crash over for the first try of the game. Dennis converted for the extras.

Having now given the wasp nest a good poke, Crediton came back with aggressive vengeance but having worked their way into the lead the visitors wern’t about to give in lightly. Continued excellent defence, and with first year colts such as Oli Scantlebury , Harvey Ratcliff , Chris Pyle and Pete Gillard growing in stature by the minute, continued to frustrate the home side and although Crediton started to gain some territorial advantage in the last 10 minutes , the Okehampton line was never seriously threatened and the final whistle sounded to a well earned first win of the season for the Okehampton lads.

Next week the Colts return to Crediton in a merit table fixture but having won at Crediton once , they can do it again. This performance should give the lads a great deal of confidence and bodes well for the season ahead.