SOUTH WEST PENINSULA LEAGUE PREMIER EAST

Okehampton Argyle 4 Axminster Town 1

OKEHAMPTON Argyle had a number of players missing for the visit of Axminster Town on Saturday, November 16, writes Charlie Bond.

The most notable absentee was ever-present captain and midfielder Alex Gray. His usual command of midfield and control of the ball was absent as Argyle struggled to overcome second-to-bottom Axminster.

Giving the visitors their due, as their recent results show, they are no pushovers and they matched Okehampton for most of the first half. The game was very much an end-to-end affair and Argyle struggled to play penetrating through-balls.

Their best chance in the first half came on 15 minutes when Dan Koita hit the bar from the edge of the box. Nine minutes later, a bad defensive error saw an Axminster through ball pass between the Okehampton centre backs for a visiting forward to run through and finish well past Jack Arthur.

Argyle tried to get back on terms but the visitor's defence played well and denied the home side a chance of equalising before half-time, while their speedy forwards were always dangerous.

The second half saw Argyle begin to take control of midfield and they pushed hard for an equaliser. On 50 minutes, Okehampton hit the bar again, but it took until the 75th minute before the equaliser came.

A good move down the left saw a partial clearance fall to Josh Robins who volleyed it home into the bottom corner of the net from outside the box. Just three minutes later, Burns’ free kick into the box was picked up by Luke Mortimore and fired home from 6 yards.

Shortly after, what looked like a perfectly good goal by Dan Koita, who ran past two men and fired home a great shot, only for it to be disallowed for offside.

On 85 minutes, Argyle increased their lead when a fierce direct free kick by Adam Bilcock from the edge of the box was brilliantly pushed out by the visiting keeper, only for Luke Mortimore to head home the rebound. Then four minutes into injury time, Okehampton got a fourth when a ball into the box from Burns was nodded home by Jake Rowe.

Okehampton had a number of their younger players on display in this game. The very promising Owen Pickard played well but had to be replaced at half-time due to an injury. On came 16-year-old Max Peach whose speed and skill stretched the visitors’ defence. For the last 20 minutes, full back Craig Penberthy who had had a good game was rested and Joel Thorne filled his position well.

Next up for Argyle is a visit to The Rec, the home of Newton Abbot Spurs, a league clash on November 23 with a 3pm kick-off.

With no midweek action, Argyle and Spurs will head into this fixture in third and fourth respectively. Oke are five points ahead of the team from South Devon but have played two more games, and the pair both have games in hand on Cullompton Rangers in second place.