Sevenoaks RFC’s 1st XV loss against Medway on Saturday means that Adam Bowman’s side has a 50% win and loss ratio after the opening four games of their London South 1 campaign. The Oaks 3rd and 4th XV both recorded wins, maintaining their 100% winning start to the season.
“We felt we played well in patches on Saturday” said Bowman “but crucial errors at key times allowed Medway to build momentum. They are a quality outfit and punished us at every opportunity when we made mistakes.”
Winger Jonny Short streaks away to score when Oaks faced Tottonians RFC at home in the league during the 16/17 campaign. Photo Credit: David Purday
Oaks were given a boost on seven minutes as three Medway players had to leave the field due to a clash of heads when centre Josh Thorneycroft sliced through the home defence before support from Simon Tree and Will De Smith allowed the latter to crash over and give Oaks its 7 – 3 lead. “That was a turning point in the game and fair play to Medway, they reacted well and recovered. Like us, they have focused on building a squad of players that can slot in to any position and they were excellent in the second half. Our players were really disappointed after the game and we will look hard at ourselves this week as a group to be ready for the test against Tottonians this Saturday at the Paddock.”
Oaks Head Coach Adam Bowman is hoping for positive results across the board this weekend. Photo Credit: David Purday
Whilst the 1st XV experienced the feeling of a loss for the second time this season, Bowman’s feeling of disappointment was tempered with the 3rd and 4th XV team victories. “As I said last week this is all about the squad and there were some outstanding performances by both winning teams on Saturday. The season is now in its relentless period as all four teams go again on Saturday and the challenge will be to try and replicate what we did a couple of weeks ago, when all four teams won.”
If the form book from last season is anything to go by, Saturday’s 1st XV match against Tottonains, sponsored by Savills, will be a tight one. Totts beat Oaks comfortably in the first game between the two sides whilst Oaks reversed the result when the men from Water Lane visited the Paddock. “They were one of the toughest tests we faced last year and I’m expecting them to have gone up a notch from then” said Bowman. “Whilst last year was a case of going into the unknown a little bit, we perhaps have a better idea now of where their key strengths lie. It’s something I said at the start of the season, we have to find consistency in our performance throughout the full 80 minutes. Our performance against Maidstone at home was the closest we have come to achieving that, and that’s the level we’ve got to replicate again.”
“I’m really excited to see how the second team fair against Dartfordians this week, we’ve had a really solid great to the season but after a week’s break the challenge will be to ensure we start where we left off against Tunbridge Wells 2nd XV"
Sevenoaks RFC Senior Fixtures | Saturday 30th September 2017
1500hrs Sevenoaks RFC 1st XV v. Tottonians RFC 1st XV, sponsored by Savills
1500hrs Dartfordians RFC 2nd XV v. Sevenoaks RFC 2nd XV
1500hrs Thanet Wanderers 2nd XV v. Sevenoaks RFC 3rd XV
1500hrs Sevenoaks RFC 4th XV v. Swanley RFC 1st XV