Rugby

Sevenoaks: 35

Old Reigatian: 23

SEVENOAKS made it two league wins on the bounce with a fine team display over Old Reigatian on Saturday.

Reigatian started the game strongly at Knole Paddock, as Oaks knew they would.

In the opening 10 minutes the visitors camped out in the Sevenoaks half, but through resilient defence, again led by hitman Ian Collins, Oaks held their rivals to just three points.

After keeping their patience through this period and taking everything Old R had to offer, Oaks made their play and had the belief, and certainly the ability, to attack from their own 22.

After 20 minutes the game settled down and Oaks were showing some good phases and maintaining possession. Matt Barber got three points to get Oaks onto the score board.

By this stage Oaks were pulling all the strings and taking the game to Old R. Barber made a great break, some swift handling and support linked the backs and forwards, and George Roffey showed there is plenty of life left in the legs by going over for an excellent first try.

After that Oaks were quite comfortable in all aspects of the game and Old R started to look tired. 11-6 at half-time.

The second half began the same as the first finished. Admittedly, Old R were starting to work their scrum and fourth man lineout jumper, but Oaks matched them.

All Old R were left with was their rolling maul, which they started to put into action, but Oaks took the sting out of their tail by running in another couple of tries. Alex Barber crossed the line with a trademark burst, while new boy Matt Dodd scored again as Oaks jumped into a good lead and were seemingly out of sight.

However, late on there were a few sloppy moments from Oaks. The visitors took advantage and scored two quick tries. There were now three points in it.

The game turned into a territorial contest with Oaks having most of the ball and Old R having to clear their lines in the face of constant attacks.

Man of the match Matt Barber dropped three more points during this spell and, with Oaks in the ascendency, they gained in confidence. At the end, the impressive Barber ran in another try to seal the match by 12 points.

Skipper, Tim Golds said: "For me, the best thing about the game was the way we responded when they came back at us in the second half. They scored two tries in quick succession to get within three points of us. There have been a number of occasions in the past where we have been in similar positions and our heads have dropped, but this week we showed real character and belief and took the game back to them. We'll take real confidence from this."

Golds added: "The forwards had their best game of the season so far, and set up a great platform from which the backs could unleash some dangerous running."