The Oaks U16 Academy A team travelled to Ashford first thing on a sunny Sunday for their first Kent League match of the season.
The anticipation of a great match ahead was palpable as Ashford kicked off. The Oaks back three communicated well to let the ball travel over the dead ball line giving the Oaks a scrum put in on the half way line. On the front foot, the Oaks backs and forwards piled the pressure on Ashford with quick ball and hard running culminating in Harry Bouverie going over for the first try of the match. Only a few minutes later, after more sustained pressure, Bouverie went over for his second. Talk of a hattrick was premature as Ashford fought back. With the wind and sun behind him, the Ashford 12 put in some quality kicks behind the Oaks back 3 including a very impressive 50-22. Ashford gained the upper hand as Oaks gave away a few too many penalties in their own half. The Oaks held their line for almost 10mins before Ashford went over for their first converted try. The game was on with the score at 7-12.
The Oaks learnt from their mistakes in the second quarter, getting their discipline at the breakdown under control. The forwards started to get on top of the larger opposition with aggressive rucking and fantastic fitness levels. They provided quality clean ball on a plate for the Oaks backs. The Oaks fly-half, Hamish McQueen, started to take control of the game and the Oaks backs dominated with some sublime moves. Tom Hyde went over for the next try and the Oaks just kept their foot on the pedal. The fourth try was a joint effort by Taylor Nash and Benjy Collingwood both going over the line together. The last try of the first half started from a line out with Brennan O’Keefe cutting a hard line following some sweet in the boot passes by McQueen and Joel Walter. Nash’s amazing work rate provided the link support to O’Keefe as he was tackled and then a neat offload gave Walter his first try. McQueen slotted 4 out of the 5 first half conversions to make the first half score 7-33.
Oaks kicked off with confidence in the second half, now benefiting from the wind and sun behind them. McQueen kept Ashford in their half with some very clever kicking and fantastic chasing from the whole team. Hyde and Louie Ashenden in particular pinned their opposite numbers down under the high ball. The first try of the second half came after relentless pressure from Oaks ending in Collingwood scoring. Ashford’s heads started to go down as they were on the ropes. Oaks didn’t let up, after some excellent ruck phases from the forwards another perfect backs move led to O’Keefe cutting a hard line in the Ashford 22 for Oaks try number 7. Walter then followed up with a couple of signature side steps and a strong run in from near the half way line for his second. The last try was scored by Collingwood, who courageously went over whilst sustaining a knee to the head. We’ll let Nash and Collingwood debate whether Collingwood scored a hattrick! McQueen slotted his 8th conversion out of 9 to take the score to 7-61. With the points difference over 50, the game was stopped early. A truly impressive first league match performance from the Oaks.