Old Alleynians 14 Sevenoaks 32
Oaks travelled into South London on Saturday to take on an Old Alleynians side who have found life tough going in their first season of London 2SE action. Oaks, needing just a point to guarantee a promotion play off berth, took the decision to rest players this weekend in light of the daunting fixture schedule they face over the coming weeks.
OA’s playing with the wind in the first half started much the better of the two teams and registered the first points of the day with a well worked set play that saw their outside centre dot down under the black dot unopposed. Oaks were lethargic and imprecise in everything they did for the first twenty minutes and looked nothing like the league’s leading point scorers this term. Oaks were shaken from their state of torpor by the youngest member of their squad, 18yr old winger Adams who crafted an outstanding try from nothing, beating three defenders on route to the line, Winter added the extras and two penalties to give Oaks the lead which he then extended further with a try of his own. 18-7 to Oaks at the half.
Despite harsh words being said at half time Oaks continued to play without due care and attention and barely struggled out of second gear. OA’s desperately needing points to avoid dropping into the relegation battle gave it their all and scored their second converted try of the day to close the score to 18-14 to the visitors. This finally spurred the boys from the Paddock into action and they allowed third gear to kick in. Two tries from Thorpe and Vaihu, both converted by Winter quickly followed putting the game away. At the final whistle Oaks had secured a 32-14 bonus point win and added another fixture to their season in the shape of a promotion play off game on April 30th.
After the match 1st XV Manager Jon Muchmore commented ‘That was not a pretty game to watch on a terrible pitch that any self respecting Friesian would turn their nose up at.. We seemed to already have eyes firmly fixed on the double header against T Wells and mentally we struggled to find any focus. The big plus point from today was the excellent performance from Ben Adams. Ben is a young lad just making his way in the senior game and the little bit of quality he showed to craft our first try only reinforces my opinion that he can be a very good player for us and a fixture in the team for many years to come. We have given him a few opportunities this term and whilst he is still raw and lacks a bit of physicality he has that one vital ingredient for a back three player, raw pace’.
Team
1 Naismith
2 Richardson
3 Power
4 Thorpe
5 Coleman
6 Baldock
7 Vizard
8 Robinson
9 Shirtcliff
10 Winter
11 Adams
12 Vaihu
13 Tree
14 Saunders
15 Streather
16 Aspinall
17 Dodd
18 Anderson