Winscombe lose against Okehampton in Regional 2 South West

On the road, the Winscombe 1st XV suffered defeat at the hands of Okehampton RFC at the weekend, with their hosts moving above them at the top of Regional 2 Tribute South West.

After a dream start, Winscombe dominated the first quarter of the game.

From the kick-off, Okehampton failed to deal with their visitors’ deep defensive kick and when the ball was worked back into Winsombe hands, flanker Lewis Douglas ran onto the ball and scored beneath the posts.

Centre Sam Dearsley added the conversion.

Two further converted tries, by full-back Ollie Walrond and left wing Harry Brean, then saw Winscombe build a commanding lead before indiscipline and some poor defending allowed their hosts back into the game.

Okehampton scored three tries in quick succession as the half-time whistle approached, cutting their deficit to 17-21 at the break.

After some early territorial advantage at the start of the second period, Winscombe extended their lead through a Dearsley penalty.

But Okehampton soon replied with a try in the left corner, the touchline conversion bringing the scores level at 24-24.

After a period of stalemate, the home team gradually took control of the game and scored a further two converted tries and a penalty to move out of sight.

As the match moved to a conclusion, Winscombe desperately tried to salvage a try bonus point from the encounter and in the last play of the match, they secured this in style when the ball was moved swiftly from a scrum on the five-metre line, Dearsley sent a grubber kick behind the Okehampton defence for winger Will Pearce to collect and score beneath the posts.

The defeat sees Winscombe move to fourth in Regional 2 Tribute South West with a tough home encounter against Tiverton at Longfield next weekend to round off the year.