Sidmouth 5, Okehampton 7 Sidmouth Colts entertained Oakhampton at the Blackmore on Saturday and it ended up being the tight physical game that all had anticipated, writes Lee Sowden.

The game was delayed by 15 minutes after the referee asked for the pitch to be remarked after a down-pour just prior to kick off all but washed away the existing markings!

Thankfully Bougher stepped in with a replacement machine collected from Sidford and got the game going.

Luckily this didn’t seem to affect the players and both sides set of at a frenetic pace.

The conditions were very poor and all the players were struggling to handle the ball, play went from end to end with neither side really dominating, Oakhampton looking stronger on the loose ball and Sidmouth stronger with their set play.

Sidmouth had two penalty opportunities but both went wide and half time arrived with no points on the score board.

During the interval team talk Sidmouth felt they were just starting to dominate and if they could just get the ball out wide they would have more options to score.

The deadlock was finally broken in favour of the hosts. After the forwards had gone through phases working the their way up the pitch, quick hands saw the ball travel out to wing man Luke Wells-Burr and he sprinted clean for an unconverted try.

Oakhampton were next to have a spell of pressure, and, with five minutes remaining they had a five-metre lineout.

The catch and drive was alleged to be brought down illegally and they were awarded a penalty try under the posts!

This was a tough decision for a Sidmouth side who, on reflection, felt they had the upper hand throughout the game.

The two sides meet again in a fortnight which gives Sidmouth the opportunity to redress the balance!