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