On a bright but windy afternoon at Hazelwood it was the Sunbury boys who made the better start capitalising on an error from Oak at the Kick Off to mount a sustained attack on the line. However, despite some powerful ball carrying from the Irish tight five, the Sevenoaks defence held firm. A superb turnover from hooker Ben Lord eventually allowed them to clear their line. A string of indiscretions from the Irish forwards then allowed the young Oaks to build momentum. Eventually a line out near the Irish line allowed Oaks to drive the ball over and provide the game with its first score. The rest of the half was played out largely between the 22s as both sides struggled to find rhythm in attack and defences reigned supreme. Oaks led 5 – 0 at the break.
The Kentish men flew out of the traps in the second half; charging down a kick off and immediately enjoying some possession in the Irish 22. Eventually, space opened up on the blindside and inside centre Tom Sarkesian delivered a delightful pass to allow Lord to cross for the second try of the game. The Young Oaks did not take their foot of the gas and before long were exerting pressure on the Irish line again. Before long another powerful rolling maul was dragged down as it approached the line and the referee duly awarded a penalty try. Shortly after the restart, Tom Sarkesian jinked his way through the midfield before a fortunate break from a kick through allowed Jonty Wines to dot down for the Oaks’ fourth try. The scoring wasn’t finished yet however as Wines took the ball flat from the back of the scrum before getting his hands free from a tackle to off load to substitute winger Will Jones who duly dotted down under the posts. Josh Kemp added the extras. There was still time for Oaks to mount a final rear-guard action in response to a spirited attack from Irish to ensure the score finished Sevenoaks 29 – London Irish 0.
Oaks now progress to the Quarter Finals of the National Cup where they will take on Old Albanians at The Paddock on Sunday 15th March at 12pm.
Academy Head Coach Paul Dawson said, ‘I want to congratulate our lads on a first class result. It is no small achievement to reach the last 8 of a National competition so they are right to be proud of that. I am very pleased with our second half performance in particular and that is the minimum standard we now have to expect from ourselves. We know Old Albanians in the next round will be an enormous challenge and we have to keep getting better if we want to progress further. I am looking forward to a huge training week ahead of crunch Kent Cup games for the Under 16s and Academy 1st XV this Sunday.’
To see all the photos from the match, click here