Sevenoaks: 22

Tonbridge Juddians: 62

SEVENOAKS produced a superb first-half display to stun high flying Tonbridge Juddians at Knole Paddock on Saturday, but in the end an eight-try blitz in the second period saw the visitors emerge victorious.

Despite the scoreline, there were plenty of positives to take from the match.

They led at half-time 22-10, and captain Tim Golds was pleased with how his side reacted a week after the heavy defeat at Hove.

"I was really pleased with the performance in the first-half," Golds reflected. "We knew we were capable of playing some good rugby and that was probably the best 40 minutes we have played this season. It was some of the best rugby people down at the club have seen, I would say.

"The problem in the second half was that we couldn't keep hold of the ball and were probably defending for about 35 minutes. That is what lost us the game and we gave the ball away too easily.

"We showed how we can compete against a very good team. I suppose I have mixed emotions about the match. I am annoyed that we lost, as we should have beaten them, but we put up a better performance. We are looking forward to our next match against Eastbourne, away."

The home side began with greater energy, enthusiasm and with a sense of purpose. Sevenoaks were rewarded for their fast start when fly-half Matt Bates gave them the lead when he kicked over a penalty.

It got even better, minutes later when winger Jon Pollock collected a kick ahead to go over for the first try of the match. Bates added the conversion and Oaks were flying. TJs were conceding a lot of penalties and Bates made them pay again when he kicked another to put Oaks 13-0 up.

Juddians did manage to score a try of their own when hooker Jamie Stoor touched down, but Bates kicked another penalty over to stretch Oaks' lead. Gert de Koch then scored TJs' second try of the match to get them back into the match; both conversion kicks were missed.

Bates' excellent kicking continued as two more penalties were converted to give the home side a 22-10 lead at half-time.

Oaks lost their open-side flanker Freddie Woods for the rest of the match after he was punched in the face, which saw the TJs player sent to the sin-bin. The home side were disappointed with the referee's decision.

Wessel Wolmarans' try early in the second half gave TJs impetus, and, despite resolute tacking from the Sevenoaks defence, second-row forwards Liam Rankin and Toby Carroll crossed for scores of their own.

TJs were putting constant pressure on the Sevenoaks defence and this resulted in a flurry of penalties, which helped the away side enjoy the lion's share of possession.

De Koch scored again after a win at the line-out and back-row forward Nathan Peters, Neil Meyer (2) and Hayden O'Toole also got tries. Six of the eight second-half tries were converted by de Koch as the score ended 22-62.

Sevenoaks have a week off to recuperate following two hard matches, after receiving a bye in the Intermediate Cup, in which they have played possibly the two strongest teams in the league. They travel to Eastbourne on October 10.