Southern one

OKEHAMPTON MEN FIRSTS 1

TORBAY 2

OKEHAMPTON men’s firsts faced top of the table Torbay hoping to steal the victory.

This looked a promising prospect after Okehampton withheld the ball from the visitors for the majority of the first half and dictated the play.

The Oke defence were kept on their toes, wary of Torbay’s threatening counter attacking play. Howard, Hall, Gers and Cooper looked solid and, as always, they were well supported by captain Liversidge who took up a specific defensive role. Between them, they thwarted any chances that Torbay created. Okehampton enjoyed creating many of their own chances, many with great potential but none converted so the score at half time was 0-0.

The second half produced competitive hockey where the majority of free hits were taken swiftly, accelerating the speed of the game. Torbay made better use of the quick free hits and caught Oke out on the break and took the lead.

With plenty of time to go, Okehampton stayed calm and cool, building the pressure on the visitors. The equaliser came from a quick break out of midfield and a quick fire pass into the D from Liversidge, France was ideally placed to deflect the ball past the Torbay keeper.

Okehampton kept possession and went in search of further goals, creating a number of good chances but again for no reward. Torbay too were keen for a winning goal and they created chances of their own, forcing a penalty corner. Much to Okehampton’s dismay, the shot flew up of the keeper Westlake’s kicker into the roof of the net for the winning goal.