The Autumn son glinted on Knole Paddock on Sunday as Sevenoaks Academy 1st XV welcomed Horsham RFC to The Paddock for the first Round of the Under 18 National Cup.
The Young Oaks got off to a dream start as, after good work on the right wing from George Northcroft, the ball was zipped through hands across the field for his left wing counterpart David LaTrobe to finish smartly in the opposite corner. A period of defence followed for Oaks as the men from Sussex got their powerful ball carriers into the game. Oaks stood firm and were rewarded with a second try when no.12 Tom Sarkesian broke from inside his own 22 before unleashing his centre counterpart Jonty Wines to cross under the sticks. Sarkesian duly added the extras. Again, following their score, the home team were subjected to a prolonged period of defence and, again, they held firm. As the half reached its climax, LaTrobe bounded onto to a short pass from Sarkesian before off loading to Jamie Munday who duly dotted down to ensure that the Oaks returned to the sheds at half time 19 points to the good.
The second half kicked off with a stalemate between the two sides as both teams struggled to gain a foothold. The deadlock was broken however by a moment of magic from Oaks fly half Barney Stone who jinked through the Horsham defence before exchanging offloads with lock Harvey Venables to allow the number 10 to scamper under the posts. An excellent kick chase from the Young Oaks then allowed full back Jakey Ivell the space to race up the left wing and score under the post. The simple conversion took the score to 33 – 0. There was still enough time for Sarkesian to break once more from the midfield for an impressive and well-deserved try before the Oaks put the icing on the cake to the delight of their assembled faithful. A quick lineout from Northcorft led to an illegal tackle from the Horsham defence and the award of a penalty try. Horsham ended the game with a deserved score of their own as fly half Olli Chennel delivered a pinpoint cross field kick for his teammate to burrow over in the corner. The game finished 45 – 5 to the Oaks.
After the game Academy Head Coach, Paul Dawson said, ‘I am very pleased with this result, it is a solid and encouraging start to our National Cup campaign and I take my hat off to the lads for that. However, we have a great deal to work on if this team are really going to reach their full potential and I look forward to getting them back on the training field ahead of the next round in November.’