Oaks' roller coaster season continued as the lads put in a huge 2nd half effort to take a bonus point win away at a large and determined Canterbury outfit.
Oaks have been victims of their own success this season. With 5 players in Saracens Academy U18s, one of whom represented England U18s last summer, one would expect this vintage to have run roughshod over opposition from start to finish. Unfortunately, that has not been the case as school commitments pre-Xmas combined with unwillingness from Saracens to release players to play in club league fixtures has led to Oaks being without this talented contingent for pretty much every fixture.
This has led to Oaks struggling for consistency which in turn has led to two particularly painful defeats. One against Dorking led to the end of a National Cup campaign that had promised so much a couple of years ago. The other, perhaps even more painful, was a 10-25 battering from a young TJs side in the Kent League at the Paddock last weekend. Such setbacks have left the group doing more soul-searching than they would have liked or expected at the start of the season.
To make matters worse on Sunday, an illness within the squad led to so many late dropouts that the Academy 1st XV actually began the game with number 8 Jamie Catchpole playing hooker - something he hadn't done for 2 years!
Canterbury clearly smelt blood and, despite a bright start for Oaks in which they came close to scoring on more than one occasion, it was the home team who scored first. Poor first up defence off the lineout allowed Canterbury to get in behind Oaks before some accurate passing put their winger in out wide for an early 5-0 lead.
The wheels could so easily have come off with confidence at a bit of a low, but Oaks stuck to task and were rewarded minutes later when the outstanding fly half, Max Lindsay, set the tone for his MotM display with a clever crossfield kick in phase play. Winger Tom Hyde won the race to the ball and brought Oaks level at 5-5 after 15 minutes.
Unfortunately, making errors after scoring points has been a bit of a theme for the Oaks this season. Possession was coughed up from the kick off receipt and after several minutes of pressure, Canterbury worked a clever short side for their 2nd try. Fortunately, the wide conversion was missed, with Oaks heading in at half time only 10-5 down.
Another habit of Oaks' this season has been the inability to execute the game plan after the half time team briefing. This was not the case on this day as Oaks applied immediate territorial pressure through scrum half Zach Ferguson. Canterbury tried to run the ball out, but infringed and Lindsay stepped up to take the 3 and get Oaks back to 10-8 with only a minute or so gone in the 2nd half.
Shortly afterwards, Oaks applied massive pressure to a succession of Canterbury lineouts, eventually forcing an overthrow which was pounced on by flanker Tom Hewitt. The ball was worked wide immediately and winger Isaac Canham shrugged off the cover to score Oaks' 2nd try, which Lindsay converted from out wide to give the visitors a 10-15 lead.
Another try followed as Oaks settled into their territory game and continued to force Canterbury into errors deep in their own half. A short range penalty was tapped by lock Max Gilbey and several pick and gos later, the hero of the day, Jamie Catchpole, forced his way over for Oaks' 3rd. Linsday converted again and Oaks were now hunting a much needed try bonus point at 10-22.
Canterbury had other ideas, however. Through sheer belligerence, they forced their way into the Oaks 22 and stayed their for several agonising minutes as Oaks saw their chances of a bonus point try slipping away. Indeed, Canterbury would have scored themselves to set up a very tense finish had it not been for a monstrous tackle on a rampaging Canterbury hooker by replacement flanker Jake Tucker. Oaks used the ensuing penalty to advance up the field for one last roll of the dice.
Max Lindsay Man of the Match
With the clock in the red, Oaks launched yet another attack off their lineout, which by this point had openside flanker Tom Hewitt throwing into it! The ruck ball was quick but Canterbury's defence hung on for phase after phase until centre Joel Walter cut a superb line off his partner Ben Pearl to carve through and score under the posts. Lindsay added the extras to give Oaks a 10-29 win and maximum points.
This was a huge game for Oaks and a superb result given the circumstances in the build up. Their bravery and guts have kept them in the hunt to win the league, in spite of the earlier loss to TJs. Particularly praise-worthy was the way in which the team responded to a pre-match change in tactics implemented by the coaching staff, when it became apparent that the team that had been selected would not be the team that took to the field.
Oaks look forward to two final league games against Medway and Old Elthamians. It's a tall order, but if they can take maximum points from those two games, and other results go their way, Oaks may still yet retain their Kent League title!
Squad list : Will Tarry, Jamie Catchpole, Colby Bedford-Eatwell, Max Gilbey, George Booth, Taylor Nash, Tom Hewitt, Liam Thomas, Zach Ferguson, Max Lindsay (C), Isaac Canham, Ben Pearl, Joel Walter, Tom Hyde, Alex Holden
Subs : Peter LaTrobe, Jake Tucker, Louis Parker, Charlie Drysdale