Oakmeadians vs Corsham
27 October 2007
46
-14
A much improved
performance by Oaks earned them a very convincing win, outscoring
Corsham by six tries to one. The return of Tim Flower had a major
influence, as did the first appearance of Rory Thompson who had an
outstanding game. The forwards all played well with the lineout
functioning smoothly allowing the backs to run – five tries spread
among them, with Thompson getting the sixth.
Oaks enjoyed the territorial advantage for the first twenty minutes
but only had a Tryska penalty goal after 14 minutes to show as
several scoring opportunities were missed. Corsham drew level on
twenty minutes on their first real excursion deep into the Oaks’
half with a penalty by their scrum half Borockhurst. This process
was repeated on 31 minutes to put Corsham 6-3 ahead, much against
the run of play but with a stiff breeze behind them.
Oaks persistence finally brought two quick scores. Mike Notobartolo
finished off a move which was converted by Tryska on 37 minutes and
within two minutes, from an astute pass by Steve Harman, Ryan
Stephenson went over to leave the score at 15-6. Again Oaks
transgressed at a ruck from the kick off and again were punished,
with Brockhurst slotting the resulting penalty comfortably for a
half-time score of 15-9. Conceding turnovers and giving away too
many penalties had resulted in a much closer score than the Oaks
domination of territory and possession would have suggested.
Oaks started the second half with a superb try straight from the
restart. Sevi Kurewaka took a pass before beating three men and
then drawing another defender before putting Ryan Stephenson in
under the posts for his second try, dult converted by Tryska. Oaks
crossed for a second time in the half only to see their effort
disallowed before scoring another good try in the sixth minute of
the half. Kurewaka took a great line to receive a short pass from
Steve Harman to scorch over with Tryska again adding the
conversion. Oaks stretched their lead to 29-9 when Ryan Stephenson
took a clearance well and attacked, timing his pass to Kurewaka
perfectly. Kurewaka then had the strength to hold of the defence
and score, with Tryska once more converting with 16 minutes of the
second half gone. Oaks then conceded a sloppy try when a badly
tapped ball was grabbed by Corsham number 8 Russell who scored in
the corner to pull the score back to 36-14.
Oaks kept up the pressure and after 74 minutes Rory Thompson scored
a fine individual try picking the ball up at the base of the scrum
and using his speed and swerve to hold off several tacklers. Tryska
duly converted. Tryska then completed the scoring with a minute to
go with a long range penalty, for a final score of 46-14.
Bryan King