Sevenoaks Academy 1st kicked off their official Kent League campaign with a trip down to Thanet on Sunday.
In the Academy's previous visit to Broadstairs back in May 2021 for a scrumless and maulless friendly, the story of the day was Thanet's overwhelming physicality eventually triumphing over Oaks' fast and wide attacking play.
The young Oaks were challenged to make winning the physical battle their number one priority and they delivered in spades.
Huge defensive sets compared with rapier-sharp handling on the counter gave Sevenoaks tries through Pat Spice and Oli May, taking them into an early 0-10 lead. Some ill-discipline from an Oaks exit gave Thanet their first meaningful field position shortly after. Thanet constructed a useful driving maul but were stopped just short of the Oaks line. When Thanet attempted to carry over from close range, repeatedly dominant tackles by the likes of Elliot Peters and Drew Mercer led to a turnover penalty for the visiting side.
Oaks finished the half strongly and after repeated attempts from close range, hooker Dom Stangroome was the beneficiary of a powerful driven lineout. Fly half Billy Boyd stepped up to add the extras and Oaks went in at half-time 0-17 up.
The 2nd half was a slightly more frustrating affair. Despite a constant supply of clean lineout ball provided by captain Will Murphy, Jack Ludden and James Kerton, Oaks struggled to get over the line as Thanet dug in.
The penalty count had started to turn against Oaks and this allowed Thanet a rare visit to the Oaks 22. Despite more brutally physical defence, Thanet kept their patience and after many phases, barged their way over from close range to give themselves a foothold in the game at 5-17.
Sevenoaks to their credit, responded immediately. A clever lineout 'special' gave allowed Oaks to carry well over the gainline inside the Thanet 22. Two quickly executed phases later and Oli May was able to step his way to his 2nd and Oaks' 4th try of the game. This was then followed by a well-executed strike move from a scrum just outside the Thanet 22 which saw the returning Luka Crowcroft denied only by an outstanding cover tackle from the Thanet centre. The damage had been done however and Zac Shirtcliff capped off a fine display by working around the corner and powering over from 10m out.
Final score, 5-27 to Oaks.
This was an energetic and at times clinical performance from Sevenoaks. A shift in attacking structures combined with a slightly more forward-orientated game plan has given the lads the foundations from which to launch more 'put-together' attacks. This clarity appears to have energised the group and with more players returning to the fold, the final whistle was greeted by cautious optimism by players and coaches about just what might be next.
Squad list: Alby Butt, Dom Stangroome, Drew Mercer, Jack Ludden, Luke Walter, James Kerton, Elliot Peters, Will Murphy (c), Mac Leason, Billy Boyd, Juan Barnard, Pat Spice, Zac Shirtcliff, Oli May, Finn Good.
Subs: Gregor Pauling, Harry Corsini, Charlie Day, Sam Hopkins, Luka Crowcroft