Sevenoaks 3s lined up with a strong squad to face a Maidstone 2s side that has been languishing at the bottom of the league. Some new faces in the team with Matt Simmons returning from injury; and debutants Benjamin Martin and Josh Burns running out in the yellow and blue for the first time from the bench.
Oaks quickly got themselves on to the score sheet with Will Dulley cutting a nice line from the centre and crashing over for a try. Shortly afterwards lightening quick Drew Forester ran the ball from Oaks 22, swerving round his opponents to score under Maidstone’s sticks.
Oaks defended well for a period, maintaining a solid shield, which Maidstone could not breach. After a period of pressure, Oaks came away empty handed and penalised after a passage of attacking scrums in Maidstone’s 22, despite the Oaks pack being dominant.
Nonetheless, this was quickly rectified with an Oaks driving lineout making yards up the left touchline and scrum half Andy Driscoll nimbly touching down for another score.
The half ended with a fourth try in the right corner, off another attacking lineout. The pack forming a well shaped driving maul for Dave Backhouse to score.
Ringing the changes at half time, Simmons and Wilson off in the pack for Foreman and Burns; and Martin on at 9 and Cheney on at 10, with Driscoll and Hickin moving to the wings and Recaldin and Hosienne coming off.
Oaks continued a pace in the second half. Their efforts were quickly rewarded when debutant, Benjamin Martin from 9 backed himself in tight play and raced through the Maidstone men for a try.
The game was unfortunately called at 62 mins after a serious injury to a Maidstone player, and the teams thought given the bitter temperature, the warmth of the bar was more appealing than moving pitches!
The Oaks 3s remain in the hunt for the title with a number of games in hand and in touching distance of league leaders Gravesend 2s.
Sevenoaks Team
Matt Simmons
Oliver Boatwright-Smith
Rory Innes (Captain)
Peter Wilson (Coach)
David Backhouse (Vice Captain)
Rory Philpott
Alfie Savage
Ben Aspinall
Andrew Driscoll
Alexi Hickin
Jonathan Recaldin
James Upson
William Dulley (Vice Captain)
Stuart Hosiene
Drew Forrester
Josh Burns
Jack Foreman
Benjamin Martin
Will Chenery