Sevenoaks Rugby 1st XV 47 Chiswick RFC 1st XV 13
Last Saturday saw Sevenoaks Rugby welcome a Chiswick XV to the Paddock for round nine of twenty six in this season's London 1 competition. With both sides desperate for the win, Oaks to help cement their top half status and Chiswick anxious not to be drawn into the dogfight at the bottom of the table, a close and tense encounter seemed to be in store for the onlooking faithful of both sides.
Tom Naismith carries into the heart of the Chiswick defenc. Photo Credit: David Purday
The early exchanges were dominated by the visitors who played with a zest that belied their early season form. They registered the first try of the day with their outside half crossing the whitewash after a period of sustained pressure in the Oaks twenty and were well worth their early 7-0 lead.
Oaks were finally shaken from their torpor by the ever willing Osgood who cut a delicious line in the outside centre channel to run onto a well timed and sympathetic pass from Saunders to jog over unopposed. This score was soon followed by a close range effort from substitute Henley that gave Oaks a 14-7 lead as the teams retired for the half time oranges.
Stern and pithy words were had with the home side at the break and they responded well with an early second half scores from DeSmith and a penalty from Saunders sandwiched a penalty for the visitors to make the score 24-10 to the home team.
Despite the visitors notching one further kick at goal the game ended as a contest soon after when Oaks' superior fitness allowed them to ratchet up the tempo of the game and splinter the visiting defence with efforts from Short, Tree, Derrick and a second for Osgood to leave the final score at 47-13.
Simon Tree enjoys his second half score in his 101st appearance for the 1st XV. Photo Credit: David Purday
After the match Head Coach Adam Bowman commented, "I am obviously delighted with the final result today. However, our first half performance was not of the level we expect. That said, you have to give credit to the opposition for playing well and accept the fact that a young team, such as ours, will have times during a marathon season when you are not playing at 100%. The trick that good teams have is to find a way to win when things are not necessarily going the way you would like.
"Therefore our second half performance really pleased me and I thought we showed a great deal of fortitude to come through today and take all five points. Next week we travel to CS Rugby who have had a fantastic start to their campaign and will provide us with probably our sternest test to date."
Squad:
1 Power
2 Sedgwick
3 Simmons T
4 Naismith T
5 Coleman (Capt)
6 Morris
7 Desmith
8 Derrick
9 Goodhew
10 Shirtcliff
11 Short
12 Tree
13 Osgood
14 Edwards
15 Saunders
16 Rolfe
17 Henley
18 Phoenix