Tribute South West One West

Okehampton 45 Thornbury 21

THONRBURY failed to convert a half time lead into victory and were thrashed in a forgettable last quarter in which they conceded 26 unanswered points.

The game finally swung Okehampton’s way when Sam Poustie was controversially yellow-carded midway through the second half.

Thorns began well playing downhill. A driving lineout was held up over the Okehampton line and good defence from the home side kept Thorns out. Then on ten minutes a well-executed lineout drive saw Jak Evans score out wide. Jake Wood converted for a deserved 7-0 lead.

Okes attacked from the restart and scored a converted try from a scrum to tie the score.

Thorns restarted well but an intercepted pass saw Okes charge to the Thornbury ‘22’. Then with elbows and fists flying a punch-up ended with Evans carried off and taken to hospital.

Okehampton went ahead on the half hour mark when the left wing gathered a kick ahead and fed the outside half for a try. The conversion hit the post but Okehampton led 12-7.

This seemed to inspire Thornbury and Tom Williams was prominent with good carries. As the match entered injury time Harry Glew took a quick penalty in the Okehampton ‘22’ and fed Williams who showed great determination to shrug off several tackles and score. Wood’s conversion put Thornbury back ahead at 14-12.

Okehampton restarted and Williams ran hard from the Thornbury ‘22’ to halfway. Glew and Jack Hussey linked with Mike Beswick and Williams and Poustie slid in for a try. Wood’s conversion brought the half time whistle and an interval lead of 21-12 to Thornbury.

Okehampton started the second half by far the better and scored a converted try after two minutes. Then Thorns launched a series of attacks and a maul was held up on the line. Both sides cancelled each other out, but Okes dominated possession and territory.

As the match entered its final quarter Poustie was harshly yellow carded for a deliberate knock-on in front of his posts which was clearly an attempt to knock the ball upwards to be caught rather than slapped down to stop the move.

Okehampton exploited the man advantage and scored three tries with Poustie fuming on the touchline. When he returned Thorns looked dispirited and trailed 38-21. Okehampton scored again in injury time to run out 45-21 winners.

Although there could be little argument about the result of the game Thornbury deserved something from the match. The turning point was Poustie’s yellow card. That shouldn’t have been given, but frustratingly the card remained in the referees pocket when Okehampton constantly infringed.

There were good performances from several players with Harry Glew and Jake Goodridge causing problems whilst Tom Williams, Jack Hussey and Jak Evans carried well. The forwards delivered a good shift against physically bigger opponents. Jake Wood had a fine game but the defensive frailties were ruthlessly exposed late in the game. Thornbury are home to Drybrook on Saturday in a rearranged game. Kick-off is 3:00.

Thornbury scorers: tries –Evans, Williams, Poustie; conversions –Wood (3)