The U11 Mighty Oaks travelled across to Surrey on Mother’s Day expecting a tide of rain, but were greeted by sunshine. They were buoyed by the good weather and keen to start. First up were Sutton and Epsom. The Oaks elected to play downhill (at a near 30 degree angle) and came out of the blocks quickly scoring through Will, Tom and Luca. 3-0 at half time, but they had to face the uphill slope in the second half. In his Jamie George head band, Jack made some very strong runs, with players bouncing off him. Freddie took a leaf out of Jack’s book and just kept going when he had the ball, breaking numerous tackles. Will and Hamish used their heads at half backs, kicking whenever they were in trouble. Some great chasing of kicks and wonderful support play led to another 2 tries from Liam and Ollie. Final score 5-0, with 5 different people on the score sheet – an amazing team effort!
Next up were Windsor. The Oaks remembered playing them in finals of tournaments back when there used to be finals, so they knew they were in for a challenge. Windsor elected to play uphill and started with a long kick, which looked like it was going to go dead, but a really unlucky bounce of the ball led to Windsor’s first score. The wind was taken out of Oaks sails not being used to being behind. Then Luca took a knock to the knee and was carried off by St John’s (he was OK, but couldn’t take part in the rest of the day). Oaks fought back and a great dummy by Joel and a strong run led to a wonderful try to make it 1-1. However, Joel twisted his ankle whilst diving for the line with several players hanging on and St John’s were on again. After their next kick off, Windsor seized their chance with a very quick run down the wing to make it 2-1 to Windsor at half time. In the second half the Oaks made some amazing tackles, with Harry Bouverie making the best of the bunch taking out Windsor’s 15 stone forward. However, the Oaks were simply out-rucked by a very well drilled Windsor team, not managing to obtain or retain possession. With the advantage of the slope, Windsor ran in 3 more tries to make the final score 5-1. Although the Oaks were down hearted, they should be proud of their fantastic tackling and learn from the speed to the ruck from Windsor (something for us to work on).
A switch of pitches meant the slope was even more exaggerated on one half. The Oaks took advantage of winning the toss and elected to play down hill against Kingston. In a very close match the two teams swapped scores. Harry and Liam always on the shoulders of team mates, ran in for a try each. Tom thought he’d squeezed into the corner just before the half time whistle, but one foot in touch meant his try was disallowed. Half time score 2-2. Oaks now had to play up-hill. Again, some very well placed kicks kept the play in the flatter part of the pitch. Benjy took advantage of a well worked ball down the line and barrelled over for a great score. Kingston weren’t out though and some vigorous support on the side lines encouraged them to fight back and draw level again. Oaks elected to receive, which gave the slope advantage to Kingston. However, they must have had a cunning plan as they ran back up the pitch with multiple phases of play. Joshua was involved in almost every phase, rucking over and making some great passes. Tom Hyde then crossed the try line, to only be disallowed again because he had been tackled high – no advantage was played! Luckily the Oaks kept the ball in Kingston’s half and another great straight run from Liam meant the final score was 4-3 to the Oaks.
After a leisurely lunch, the Oaks faced Old Reigatians in their final game of the day. With sausages and burgers in their bellies, the Oaks started the game uphill and dug in their defence to keep the opposition out. Some great kicking and fantastic chasing and tackling by Luke kept Reigate from scoring until the final play of the half. With Oaks caught slightly off guard, and with a clear hand off, Old Rs went over for a try. 1-0 at half time. The Oaks had the benefit of the downhill slope in the second half and quickly capitalised with wonderful hands passing down the line putting Ollie in for a score in the corner. The Oaks then camped down in Old R’s half, time and again getting within a whisker of a score only to just lose out to some unlucky mistakes. The final score was 1-1, but the Oaks knew they could have done better.
All-in-all a great day with some hugely committed play and some good learning to take back to our Kentish home turf. We must make a special mention for Liam Bartholet who played out of skin, was the top try scorer and won our player of the tournament trophy. Well done Liam!