Reports 13
Oaks power to Kent final
15 Mar 2009
Oaks demolish opposition to reach Kent final
Sevenoaks under 13’s took a strong 22 man squad to Medway in the defence of their county champions title and powered to the final scoring 104 points and conceding only 10. The boys maintained their usual festival stance of a slow start against a fired up Old Elthamians side, but after putting increasing pressure on the opposition line lock Wheadon crashed over for the first of Oaks total of 18 tries for the day. McKerlie converted and the boys settled into a decent performance with further tries from Parker, who was outstanding all day, and irrepressible skipper Vizard. Poland added a conversion for a 19-0 win.
Next up were Old Beccehamians who looked far stronger than when the two sides met earlier in the season. By now Oaks had found their feet and started to play some excellent rugby. After some very neat interplay flanker Morgan scored before Wheadon added another try with a superb drive through the defence from the 22. Vizard added another and Poland converted both tries to put Oaks in an unassailable 19-0 lead at half time. The second half was marked by more expansive play and after a quick ruck in midfield the ball was moved at pace and skilfully through several pairs of hands before winger Martyn beat three defenders to score a superb team try. Vizard then popped up in the centres to take a great pass from fly half Turner before throwing an outrageous dummy and then passed to Fearn who still had work to do but managed to glide into the corner to give Oaks a comfortable 29-0 victory.
In the quarter final Oaks drew tough local rivals Tunbridge Wells but attacked them with such ferocity in the early exchanges that the opponents were shell shocked and never really recovered. The forwards drove hard at their opposite numbers and recycled repeated quick ball, despite the efforts of Wells outstanding number 8, for the backs to use skilfully. Centre Holland , who had an excellent day in attack and defence, literally danced past three defenders in a packed midfield before scoring under the posts. Osbourne converted. Wells had shackled Oaks powerful fullback Urquhart but it was only a matter of time before he broke through and form a well worked move in the middle of the pitch he hit the line at pace and scored in the corner. Wells came back at Oaks and after a series of infringements they secured a penalty in front of the posts which they surprisingly kicked for 3 points.
At 12-3, however Sevenoaks were playing with real confidence and skill and Wells last real hope disappeared when their influential 8 was injured and carried off. With openside flanker shutting down the Wells fly half’s tactic of stepping back inside the rest of the backs were free to close their space and from a turnover which came as a result of pressure Vizard sidestepped two defenders to put Oaks 17-3 up. Then came the try of the day. From a restarts Wheadon eluded 4 defenders before setting up a ruck which was recycled quickly. The ball was moved left and centre Fearn beat several defenders before offloading to number 8 Thresher. He linked with blindside Morgan who offloaded brilliantly in the tackle for winger Campin to score and a very satisfying 22-3 victory was recorded over a very good side.
After a long and irritating wait Oaks met a much improved and physically aggressive Cranbrook side in the semi final. Having beaten the same side quite easily earlier in the season Oaks were in no mood to ease off and they attacked skilfully straight from the kick off. Fullback Urquhart, by now limping quiet badly from a hip injury showed what a determined character he is by hitting the line at (half) pace. Unable to scorch past the defence he handed off two attempted tackles before diving in to open the scoring. The coaches then replaced him with Poland who brought a completely different approach to the backline with his superb handling skills. In the mean time the forwards got in on act through a series of well executed pick and drive moves before the skipper powered over. With a 10-0 lead Oaks relaxed for the first time in the day and Cranbrook came back at them very hard. From an attack in Oaks 22 Cranbrook’s fast centre outstripped all desperate tackles and scored to bring the scores to a nerve wracking 10-7. However, this side is full of character and two superb tries from winger Parker in the right hand corner put the game out of Cranbrook ’s reach. The pack was now totally dominant even though all 3 of the team’s Kent players were resting. After a series of quick rucks Poland entered the line and fixing his opponent with a skill level that should be beyond his age put substitute wingers Martyn and Hosiene in for two superb scores and Oaks had won 34-7. The boys now look forward to locking horns with Colfes once again in the final.