Archive Match Reports
Sevenoaks Extra 1st XV 0 Sidcup 2nd XV: 37
10 Mar 2009
SEVENOAKS were left stunned and silent on Saturday as a well drilled Sidcup team racked up the points in Oaks' backyard.
The Extra 1st XV were looking to bounce back from their narrow defeat the week before but came up against a very strong Sidcup team who ran in a series of tries and never gave the home side a sniff of glory.
Sevenoaks' second string fielded a very fast and youthful backline, as has been the case all season, and a predominantly young and athletic pack. But the lack of stature up front proved dear against a noticeably bigger Sidcup pack, who fielded several 1st team players in their front eight.
Sevenoaks were put on the back foot very early on, losing two scrums and allowing Sidcup's big number eight and deceptively quick open side flanker space to run with the ball. The away side wasted no time in executing their game plan, sucking Sevenoaks' defence into the breakdowns before moving the ball wide to their speedy wingers.
The fast and physical start to the game caught Sevenoaks cold and despite Oaks missing few tackles in midfield, Sidcup always seemed to find an extra man on the outside and soon ran in their first two tries out wide. Oaks began to rally some heart after the shock of going behind early on and started to put phases and pieces of possession together.
But before the home side could make any real strike on Sidcup's line the away side again found space out wide and after some quick ball retention found themselves under Sevenoaks' posts.
Oaks managed to make one serious attack on Sidcup's defence as a move from a scrum inside the away team's half saw full back John Pollock carve through Sidcup's defence. But running out of room his teammates could not keep the ball alive and despite looking dangerous, the end result was a turnover.
Adding insult to first half injury Sidcup also converted a penalty to put themselves 20 points up to the home sides nil points at halftime. Despite having little chance of stealing victory in the second half Sevenoaks at last began to show some heart and managed some sustained pressure in Sidcup's territory.
Strong running from centre Tom Pearson stopped Sidcup's defence from drifting across the field and regularly created a solid platform for his forwards to aim at.
Sevenoaks' new gutsy approach forced Sidcup into kicking themselves out trouble but they had not accounted for the devastating runners Sevenoaks had struggled to use in the first half.
Regularly taking quick throw-ins and fielding wayward kicks, John Pollock and winger Charlie Watmough wreaked havoc in open play consistently beating the first two tacklers and putting Sevenoaks back into an attacking position.
The powerful fliers began to choose between running past and running through their opposite men, and their counter attacks became Sevenoaks' brightest moments of the afternoon. That was until captain Ollie Smith landed the tackle of the season. As Sidcup threw a long pass in midfield, hooker Smith acted with the reactions of a winger and sprinted out of the defensive line to take man and ball in a bone crunching tackle that drew gasps from the sidelines.
Unfortunately though it was a moment of light on a dark and gloomy day for Sevenoaks' second string and giving away two late tries and another penalty, Oaks would have been pleased there was no scoreboard being used, as it would have read a painful 0-37.
Sevenoaks hope to get back to their winning form away at Tunbridge Wells this Saturday.