Oaks Academy 1st XV travelled to Aylesford on Sunday looking to make it two from two in the Kent League before the Christmas break.
The final round of school fixtures the day before had absolutely decimated the Oaks squad, with various injuries (and one suspects end of season parties) claiming 10 of the original 20 man squad named for the fixture. Indeed, at one point things were so tenuous that two of the Oaks four front row options on the day were called up on the morning of the game.
What followed was an incredibly gutsy and determined effort from the visiting team.
Oaks started well, with a strong early defensive set leading to a turnover on the floor just inside the Aylesford half. Scrum half Zach Ferguson reacted quickly and dinked the ball in behind the home defence. Winger Tom Hyde chased hard and managed to grubber past the Aylesford cover to score in the corner and give Oaks an early 0-5 lead.
Oaks followed this early score up with more points soon after as No.8 Jamie Catchpole milked a kickable penalty with more strong work on the floor in defence. Fly half Will Brook stepped up to nail the kick and put Oaks 0-8 up.
Oaks went straight back on the attack from the kickoff, but had their first real set back as 2nd row Raphi Simmonds-Dance was yellow carded as a strong Aylesford jackal attempt from a half line break isolated the Oaks attacker. Simmonds-Dance arrived quickly and forcefully, but accidentally took the home player beyond the horizontal in doing so.
This began a period of sustained pressure from Aylesford as Oaks attempted to jackal perhaps a little too frequently. Multiple penalties conceded gave Aylesford a lineout drive 10m out from the Oaks line. They needed no second invitation and powered over to get back into the game at 5-8.
Oaks rode out the remainder of the 1st half well and even managed to extend their lead a little further as Ferguson slotted a cheeky drop goal directly from an Aylesford goal line drop out. Oaks led 5-11 and were performing well.
Oaks started the 2nd half like a steam train and broke from deep through fullback Alex Holden. What followed was a wonderful, flowing attack with the ball seemingly touching every pair of hands in the team before Simmonds-Dance restored some credit to his name with a powerful finish. Brooks was unable to add the conversion, but Oaks had breathing space at 5-16.
Oaks' momentum was somewhat dented as Simmonds-Dance was shown a 2nd yellow following an altercation with his Aylesford counterpart, which had been brewing since the early stages of the game. Oaks would play the remaining 25 minutes with 14 men.
Aylesford, lifted by the red card, had their most dominant period of the game but were unable to crack the visitors' tryline. Oaks were able to advance up the field over multiple set pieces before a turned over Aylesford scrum inside their 22 allowed Brooks to scamper in under the posts. He converted his own try and Oaks were now chasing the bonus point try at 5-23.
Oaks were able to kill the game off almost immediately afterwards, as Aylesford kicked out on the full from the kickoff. Catchpole broke from the back of the scrum and carved through the home defence before feeding Ferguson back on the inside for Oaks' bonus point score. Brook added the extras. 5-30.
The final minutes of a fantastic performance from Oaks were tainted somewhat by another red card. Hooker Andrich Skein, who had been putting himself about physically all game in a powerful showing, got his height wrong in another huge collision on an unfortunate Aylesford forward. The referee deemed that there had been head-on-head contact and sent Skein from the field. A few scrappy minutes later, the ball was kicked dead and Oaks breathed a huge sigh of relief.
In spite of the red cards, this was a massively positive outing for the Oaks. The lack of a clear calendar to separate school and club competitions has been more of an issue this season than any season in recent memory. It very nearly bit Oaks in the worst way once again, with uncontested scrums (and therefore forfeiting the result) were a very real possibility less than 3 hours before kickoff. To go from that situation to a bonus point win against determined opposition was nothing short of miraculous.
Oaks will hope for a more settled set of circumstances as they prepare for several more league games after Christmas!
In other news, the Academy U16Bs travelled to Edenbridge for a friendly fixture, putting in a brave showing before ultimately losing 48-32. The Academy 2nd XV play a friendly away at TJs next weekend (17th) as our final act before the Christmas break.
Squad list : Sam Benjamin, Andrich Skein, Colby Bedford-Eatwell, Raphi Simmonds-Dance, George Booth, Harry Scott, Harry Bouverie, Jamie Catchpole (CC), Zach Ferguson, Will Brook, Isaac Canham, Joel Walter, Charlie Drysdale, Tom Hyde, Alex Holden
Subs : Charlie Andrews, Harry Clayson, Fin Stables
MotM : Sam Benjamin