North Tawton 17 Okehampton 2nds 13

THIS local derby saw players who are friends and colleagues the rest of the year become foes for 80 minutes as soon as the referee blew his whistle.

North Tawton struck first with a penalty from the boot of Jack Phare early for a three-point lead.

From the restart, Okehampton put a lot of pressure on the North Tawton defence aided by the travelling supporters’ encouragement who took delight in every mistake forced on them by a very determined Okey side.

Okehampton finally found a way through to secure their only try of the game.

North Tawton struck next with a try from Simon Quick, converted by Jack Phare to take us to 10-7.

A penalty from Okehampton just before half-time took us to the oranges all square at 10-10.

The second half got underway and it was the home team that moved the scoreboard on to 17-10 with a try from Tom Stevens and a kick added by Jack Phare.

The referee did his best keeping order in what could have been a volatile situation. He went for the yellow-card option a couple of times for the visitors and one for the home team.

The next score, in the shape of a penalty, went to Okehampton and got them four points behind with the score 17-13.

A missed penalty from Liam Pyle a long way out kept the score at 17-13.

The final play saw Tawton securing the ball from a knock-on and hoofing it into touch for a well-deserved victory.

A good-sized crowd witnessed a great game played in mostly in good spirits, though I suspect quite a few Tawton fans made their way home with a smile on the face having watched the Tawts finally silence the vocal away supporters.

It’s all part and parcel of a local derby!

Christopher Phare