OB's 14 vs Sevenoaks 19

A hard loss but hard fought
Seven weeks since the last match (thanks to the weather) and another new opponent Sevenoaks and who says life does not have symmetry. Despite the light drizzle both teams lined up eager to play and the early exchanges set the tone with the breakdown strongly contested and both sides looking to pass and run the ball. Sevenoaks proved to be the quicker to get into their stride and some good forward play led to the ball being spread along the line sucking in the OB defence and creating an overlap leading to a try for their left wing. This was duly converted with a superb kick.
OB’s redoubled their effort from the kick off and displayed some tenacious tackling across the pitch, Sevenoaks support play remained strong and tested the OB defence. However OB’s were up to the task and secured some attacking ball and started to test the Sevenoaks defence. A period of concerted pressure saw Morely finally cross the line coming into the attack from full back. Reid stepped up and converted with his own superb kick.
Sevenoaks regrouped and again pressed hard, OB’s defence was again stretched and despite many great tackles Sevenoaks again created the opportunity and crossed for a score. The conversion was just pulled wide. The game restarted and OB’s pushed hard but Sevenoaks won some turnover ball and were again on the attack again. Cobb several times cleared from deep in the OB half as the ball was won. Sevenoaks, however redoubled their efforts and broke through on the left running hard for the corner a try was only denied by a superb last-ditch tackle on the try line by Morely at full back. The Sevenoaks player and Morely crossed the line and fortunately for OB’s, Morely’s leg prevented the ball being grounded before the players slid out of play.
Half time came with the score at 12-7 to Sevenoaks.
The second half saw some fresh legs brought on and with the half time talk ringing in their ears the boys set to the task. The pace of the game resumed with the same intensity and the opening exchanges were intense. However it was OB’s that broke through first with Sagomba bursting through with a powerful run from midfield to score and Reid stepped up to secure his second conversion. Sevenoaks responded with strong play and a momentary gap appeared in the OB mid field defence and Sevenoaks streaked through to score under the posts and covert. OB’s again raised their tempo and came very close in the final moments but were not quite able to find the killer pass. The final score was 19-14 to Sevenoaks.
While to lose is always disappointing the effort and quality of play was superb with many players giving arguably the best performance of the current season. The tenacious tackling by many players was fantastic to see and bodes well for the end of season tour. It is clear however that the team needs some more training time with the full squad to blow away the enforced cobwebs caused by the inclement weather. This should then ensure a great base for the closing games of the season and the tour.