After 6 minutes of play in this London & SE fixture, and Oaks leading 14 – 0 after two early converted tries, the Kent team and their supporters must have been anticipating another runaway score by the men from the Paddock. It is to the home team’s credit, showing considerable resilience throughout, that did not happen. At the final whistle Oaks ran out 31-10 winners securing a bonus point with the Black & Whites finishing empty handed.
Whilst clearly pleased with an excellent win that saw them record their sixth consecutive victory, the players and coaching staff will be reflecting on their stop-start momentum as a result of a very high penalty count particularly in the second half. That said they played some outstanding rugby, beating a team who, not long ago, occupied a place at National 2 level.
The Oaks selection for the match required injury and absence induced changes from the previous week, seeing captain Josh Pettet now sidelined for a number of months, replaced by the return of the ‘old’ captain Stu Coleman. First XV captain Nigel Gumbleton is also a long-term absentee, meaning Matt McRrae wore the armband for the day.
The match began with those two early tries, scored by Henry Galligan and Patrick Pellegrini; both converted by Ben Adams. As in previous weeks Oaks were straight into their stride playing aggressive defence, breaking the gain line at pace and clinically converting chances. Then home team looked a little stunned but managed to re-group, having good territory and using their big pack to threaten the gain line. They got their reward in the 23rd minute when they won a penalty at the scrum, kicked to touch and rumbled over to make the score 14-5; the try converted; 14-7.
Even without sustained territory in their opponents 22, Oaks continued to look dangerous making excellent breaks requiring the Black & Whites to defend desperately at times. Unfortunately, the penalty count against them started to rise, with high tackles the most repeated offence. From one of these Sutton & Epsom took the points on offer to make it 14- 10 after 35 minutes. The home team would remain scoreless for the remainder of the game with Oak’s tenacity and organisation in defence a notable ongoing highlight.
The last few moments of the half saw the game swing towards the Oaks. First a spectacular catch by Jonny Short straight from the kick-off, saw a passage of play where S&E were penalised twice in succession allowing Oaks to kick to touch, catch and drive and power over with Scott Sedgwick scoring the try. Ben Adams slotted his most difficult conversion of the day, to make the score 21-10. The final action of the first period saw more penalties against Oaks leading to Sutton & Epsom pressuring their line. The attack was repelled, and the half time whistle blew.
The second half would be characterised by Oaks not consistently building the momentum they wanted, with persistent infringements, including receiving 3 yellow cards the reason. The home team had a good deal of territory but were unable to break the Kent team’s defence. The Oak’s set piece had been strong all day but strength in the scrum was enhanced when Charlie Naismith entered the fray. In the 53rd minute a penalty was won, the scrum re-set sending S&E backwards at pace allowing quick ball across the back line, dotted down by Scott Sedgwick for his second try of the day. Breathing space was secured following the conversion. 28- 10. After 60 minutes a penalty to Oaks for a high tackle allowed Patrick Pellegrini to score 3 points for the away team. At 31-10 the scoring was done for the day.
The final twenty minutes saw both teams play some excellent rugby. S&E running from deep looking dangerous but failing to penetrate and Oaks breaking impressively, with a highlight seeing Jonny Short break out from behind his own line to power down the wing only to unluckily knock on deep in the opponent’s half. Man of the match Stu Coleman made important steals at the lineout to snuff out S&E danger, who finished with a flourish but failed to score.
A thoroughly deserved victory for the Oaks, Head coach and Director of Rugby Adam Bowman said, “I am pleased with the result, and you can never complain with 5 points away from home, but it was a frustrating day at the office at times. The group was disappointed by aspects of our performance, in particular our discipline which prevented us from building any sustained pressure or momentum in the second half. We have a big training week ahead of us and will be working work hard as a squad to keeping all areas of our game moving forward. Our next challenge is a double header away at Tunbridge Wells, which is set to be another tough contest in this attritional league”.
Oaks remain in third position in the league table.