On a day when there was a fuel crisis in the country unfortunately the girls ran out of gas!
In the opening game of the season Medway started well and attacked the Sevenoaks defence immediately putting them on the back foot. Although Oaks kept them at bay - just (!) with Jaime and Erin putting in cover tackles, the girls were trapped inside their own 22 and kept kicking into a headwind, presenting possession back to the home side. Medway soon thought they'd scored but the ball was not touched down over the line and Sevenoaks cleared their lines well. Libby then rallied Oaks with a good counter ruck and there were some good tear-ups in the middle of the pitch with Libby and then Niamh marshalling with a couple of good tackles. Then, building momentum, Niamh broke through the lines before offloading well to Imogen in good support who scored under the posts with Niamh then slotting home the conversion. It wasn’t long before the home side levelled up the scores though with a busy Imogen tackling their scorer in vain on the line. Niamh then made an almost identical 20 metre run to earlier, this time evading the home defence and not needing to offload and she then converted her own try! Half time came and the list of casualties started piling up with Anne-Marie back off again after 5 minutes of testing out her injured elbow, Eleanor suffering concussion, Jaime with a gashed knee and Imogen not 100% with a hamstring strain although she was full of her usual bursts from the 9 position and you wouldn’t have noticed!
In the second half Medway started easing away from an exhausted Sevenoaks team whose already low numbers were further depleted and Oaks unfortunately did not manage to add to add to their 14 first half points tally. There was some great interplay going forwards at times and good hands though – one such attack used the whole width of the pitch from right to left and back again and Oaks gained 70 odd yards. Special shout-outs too to the younger girls Georgia and Valentina for some good linking up in midfield and not forgetting Naimh who not only assisted and scored, but put in some smashing tackles and scored with the boot! There were other good tackles from the girls throughout and they really put up a good fight - Libby looks like a flanker in waiting if ever I saw one and Erin and Jaime both did well from the wings too both in attack and defence.
The match finished 27-14 to the home team who ultimately deserved the win as dominated most of the match making the most of their numerical advantage. The forwards should all take a bow too as played their part in an exhausting match with no subs but made it a great spectacle to watch on a bone dry big pitch. Shout out to Amelia also for some great refereeing in the second half and for getting the girls warmed up! One learning point is the need to quickly get into support in defence and attack and the counter rucking needs to be more aggressive, i.e. try to force the issue rather that reacting when the opposing team join the rucks.
Unfortunately the in-form Naimh broke her arm and we all wish her a speedy recovery. The girls showed tremendous team spirit and heart and as well as all the injuries many of them had bruised and shredded knees. Well done all and hope you all enjoyed the curry - I did!