Sevenoaks 39 Thanet 5
Last Saturday saw 1st XV rugby make a welcome return to Knole Paddock for the first time this season. With three home matches, a family fun day supporting the Royal Marsden Hospital and the RWC playing on a big screen in the clubhouse the Paddock was a lively place to be, as Oaks welcomed a visiting Thanet side who have shown some decent pre season form.
In front of a packed and boisterous balcony the home side took control of the match from the off registering three tries and a penalty in the first twenty five minutes. Two catch and drive efforts from flanker Desmith along with a powerful drive from the talismanic Thorpe opened up a twenty point lead that the visitors never looked like overhauling. In fact Oaks should have the game and the bonus point secured in the first half but they were denied by some stout defence and a lack of precision from the Oaks XV in the opponents twenty two.
The second stanza started much the same way as the first had finished with Oaks spurning a number of great chances to extend their lead further and it took a full fifteen minutes before a home crowd favourite in the form of Unwin punched in the vital fourth try to ensure Oaks secured the full five points available on the day. Further efforts from a bludgeoning Vaihu and a great team try from Saunders sandwiched the visitors lone score. With Winter slotting three conversions and a penalty the score at the final whistle was 39-5.
A sanguine coach Vaughan commented ‘For me, whilst I know we have left a lot of points on the pitch over the last couple of weeks we have still come away with the maximum points available in each game. For me the younger players who have had to step up to replace 1st XV regulars can be proud of their efforts and I know they will have learnt a lot from both games and they will only get better. We have had a rough couple of weeks on and off the pitch and the lack of fluidity in the team performance is a direct result of the number of changes we have had to make. We now move on to two difficult away trips to Hove and Crowborough in good heart’.
1 Jack Walker
2 Connor Browne
3 Dan Power
4 Will Thorpe
5 Stuart Coleman
6 Tom Swallow
7 Will Desmith
8 Ollie Robinson
9 Ollie Shirtcliff
10 Isaac Winter
11 Simon Tree
12 Atino Vaihu
13 Robbie Unwin
14 Dom Saunders
15 Rob Streather
16 Josh Baldock
17 Scott Sedgewick
18 Ben Adams