Match Reports 16

Sevenoaks 15 Old Elthamians 25

22 Jan 2012

In a ferocious match which saw both the good and the bad of junior rugby Sevenoaks succumbed to a highly motivated and skilful OEs side by 25-15. Whilst the south east trials and injuries to key players are taking their toll on Sevenoaks there are no complaints from the coaches as OEs were the better side on the day and they deserved their win. Nor will we claim they scraped home through brute strength, as they played a very attractive brand of rugby mixing power and skill to unpick the Oaks, normally solid, defence. However, the game was nearly marred by a very ugly incident when Oaks scored a perfectly good try and a number of the home players verbally abused and threatened the Sevenoaks touch judge. However, in the interests of balance it is important to note that the Oaks boys were also out of order in challenging the OEs touch judge when he failed to give them the signal that they were hoping for as the OEs winger powered over – we all have to stop this sort of behaviour or we will end up like football and lose the values of our wonderful game. Let me reiterate this is not sour grapes, OEs deserved their win and after order was restored the game was played in a good spirit. We are dealing with testosterone filled 16 year old youths and controlling their passions is not easy but we must try.

So, back to the game itself, which, as the cliché goes, was a joy for the neutrals, but neither set of coaches are neutral and whilst the OEs coaches were jumping for joy at the smart way their full back returned a poor Oaks clearance kick and won the foot race to open the scoring, the Oaks coaches were livid. OEs were playing into a terrific wind and this was absolutely not in the script! Things got worse for the visitors when the home side won a critical turn over in midfield and launched an attack out wide. A try saving tackle by centre McCarthy should have alleviated the pressure but the OEs back row arrived quickest and the flanker dived over to score. 10-0 down, playing with the wind  Oaks had it all to do. The situation wasn’t helped by the early sin binning of skipper Vizard for dangerous play (which no one else but the ref saw) but to be fair to the home side they took full advantage. On the skipper’s return Oaks regrouped and began to play some good rugby with fullback Barber fielding every clearance kick and launching threatening counter attacks. The pressure led to a penalty and scrum half Spence coolly slotted the points and the game was back on. The rest of the first half was all about Oaks as they worked their way back into the game. OEs defence was committed and technically sound but sustained pressure led to a superb backs move which saw McCarthy dive over and Spence added the points and the score was 10-10. Oaks were denied another try when the referee adjudged the ball to have been knocked on in the act of scoring which was frustrating but that’s life.

Changes at half time were minimal – Thresher on at lock and Urquhart returning at full back – and Oaks looked calm and measured as they went through the phases in attack. OEs were no mere bystanders though and their powerful centres looked very dangerous as they too moved the ball wide. At this stage it was a question of which defence would crack first and Oaks were rightly aggrieved when a 3 on 1 overlap, which had been well worked by fly half Barnes, was stopped by the most blatant deliberate knock on you will ever see. How the offending player stayed out of the bin was beyond the imagination of the Sevenoaks half of the crowd, but stay out he did and the danger had passed. Nevertheless this seemed to galvanise the visitors and they began to play some excellent rugby, without ever finding top gear. Quick ruck ball let McKerlie change the direction of the attack as the backs went blind, sucking in the defence before Parker dived over for the try that the OE’s team felt was unfairly awarded and the mayhem ensued.

Once order had been restored these two excellent sides returned to doing what they do best, playing excellent rugby. At this stage Oaks looked the likely winners as they were camped in the OEs half and using the pick and go tactic quite well. However, OEs were like terriers at the breakdown and their desire to fight back was evident and impressive. They won a soft turnover in their own half and the fly half put in a superb kick to the Oaks corner. This is where it went wrong for Oaks and very, very right for OEs. As one of their coaches pointed out they were playing at the top of their game and suddenly Oaks weren’t.  Scrambled lineout ball was maddeningly passed to McKerlie at scrum half over his own line – nerve heard of taking the contact boys? – who, in turn, handed this ticking bomb to fullback Urquhart. Still no one tidied it up properly and somehow, in the mêlée, the home side scored and the game was tied at 15-15.

This was the cue for OEs to play some truly excellent rugby and they should be rightly proud of the way they mixed up forward carries with skilful back play. Under pressure Oaks line speed failed for once and a huge gap let the OEs centre fire out an exquisite pass to the winger who made hard yards before being hauled down. The ball was recycled and the score in the corner was inevitable and the home side were 20-15 up with minutes remaining. To give Oaks credit they attacked well from the restart but when a side is forcing a game mistakes are often made and a knock on let OEs relieve the pressure. However, instead of putting a huge boot on the ball, as the home coaches probably wanted, their backs ran it. Oaks were short of defenders and the ball found its way into the hands of OEs secret weapon. Somewhere in the second half they had introduced a new winger and given his ridiculous pace I can only assume he is new to the game but when the ball went into his hands there was no stopping him and the home side were, quite reasonably, celebrating a 10 point win. It takes a huge amount to beat this Oaks side and, although not at full strength, this was a very strong side that we put out. For Oaks it is a wakeup call and we will bounce back in a terrifying manner and for OEs it was a win that should see them kick on and be a real force in the Kent Cup. We look forward to a return encounter but in the meantime well done to them.

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