Hakes Defeat High Flying Okehampton
Hakes Defeat High Flying Oke’s
St Ives 27 v 21 Okehampton
Last Saturday at a wet and windy Alexandra Road, St Ives welcomed the team in second place in the South West One West Division; Okehampton.
The build up to the match through the week was a difficult one for the Hakes as they struggled with players for their front row with both Kye Beasley and Leigh Hocking out with head injuries sustained in last week’s fixture at North Petherton. Jack Hodge came into the front row on a two week loan from Redruth and Ben Jenkins returned on the bench.
St Ives won the toss and decided to play with the strong wind at their backs. For long periods in the first half they kept Okehampton pinned back in their own half aided by numerous handling errors from the visitors.
Nine minutes in and following 3 attacking scrums on the Okehampton 5 metre line full back Dan Magee slotted a penalty to give the Hakes the lead. Magee then doubled the Hakes advantage with another penalty on the quarter hour mark.
The St Ives scrum was working well and in the 23rd minute they pushed the visitors off the ball forcing the referee to award the Hakes another penalty. Magee stepped up and swept the ball between the posts to put St Ives ahead by 9 points to nil.
The home side suffered a setback in the 27th minute when their fly half Rhys Brownfield was shown yellow for a dangerous tackle giving Okehampton a chance to exploit the advantage of an extra man. Despite being a man down the Hakes had the better of the next 10 minutes and denied the visitors the chance of points. St Ives themselves added to their score while reduced to 14 men when Magee kicked another penalty to make the score St Ives 12, Okehampton nil.
With no further score before the half time whistle it was now the turn of the visitors to have the wind at their backs. However, it did not go to plan for Okehampton at the start of the second period. In the 46th minute Hakes’ Captain Tom Nicholas crossed for a try following several missed Okehampton tackles to stretch the St Ives lead to 17 points to nil.
Okehampton finally got on the score board after 48 minutes when winger Rhys Palmer found space on the blind side after a scrum. He crashed over under the posts allowing Richie Friend to convert easily. St Ives 17, Okehampton 7.
As they looked to build some pressure on St Ives to get themselves back in the match Okehampton became their own worst enemy once more. At a lineout the visitors were penalised for holding and the ball was despatched to the corner. From the resulting lineout the Hakes demonstrated the power of their pack and the ball was driven over the line allowing second row Jamie Hoskin to score the try. No conversion but the Hakes had stretched their lead out to 22 points to 7.
As the game entered its last quarter a quick tap penalty put the visitors on the front foot again. This time it was Oke’s centre Richie Friend who beat his man and raced over to score the try. He converted his own kick from out wide to give the visitors a sniff of getting themselves back in the match with the score St Ives 22, Okehampton 14.
Almost immediately the Hakes took control and scored again. This time it was aided by a wayward Okehampton clearance kick that was carried by the wind over the dead ball line forcing a scrum deep in Okehampton’s 22. The St Ives scrum worked well creating an opportunity which the St Ives players took by forcing their way up the blind side allowing Rob Elloway to score the try, after the initial pick up and charge from No.8, Martyn Lawreance. There was no conversion again, but the Hakes were back in control at 27 points to 14 with 5 minutes left to play.
Okehampton now gave it all they had as they tried in desperation to get something from the game. As they piled on the pressure in the St Ives 22 they crashed over from close range through scrum half Joey Bruce. Friend converted again to set
up a thrilling final two minutes at 27-21.
Despite a last minute penalty forcing the Hakes to hang on at the end the referee brought the game to a close with no further score to confirm St Ives as deserving winners.
This result came from an excellent overall team performance. Question marks over fitness and the ability of the heavy pack to keep going were answered. Game management was much improved with St Ives holding possession for long periods, content to play close haul phase after phase. Okehampton on another day would have made far fewer mistakes. Their errors at key moments aided the St Ives’ effort, but the home side are rightly proud of this win. This victory moves the Hakes up to 6th in the South West One West league table.
The Hakes are back in action this coming Saturday at Alexandra Road when they entertain fellow Cornwall side Launceston in the second round of the Cornwall Knockout Cup (2:00pm KO). As a curtain raiser before this match the St Ives under 12’s will take on Penryn under 12’s on the main pitch at 12:30pm. Come along and watch the Hakes of the future before the senior side attempt to progress in the competition they won last season.
St Ives : Ben Taylor, Rob Elloway, Jack Hodge, Jamie Prisk, Jamie Hoskin, Chris Fuca, Chris Quick, Martyn Lawrance, Liam Jolly, Rhys Brownfield, Joe Parma, Grant Thirlby, Tom Nicholas (Captain), Jack Kessell, Dan Magee.
Replacements : Ben Jenkins, Peter Mabbott, Aden Brassington (All Used).
