On a cold and frosty morning the Oaks travelled up to Dearn Valley for one of the only games on due to the weather conditions the pitch was signed off by the official and the home captain and the game went ahead the Oaks went in to the game as massive underdogs facing the team that is top of the league with and unbeaten record however this did not dampen their spirits with some strong motivation from captain Tony Day set the Oaks for a good start to the game.

At kick off the Oaks had a strong start, especially in the forwards, which set up our game plan from the start. However a silly penalty put Dearn in range of the posts which they took full advantage of, putting three points on the board early on. The Oaks quickly jumped in to another gear and great game play and some great game awareness from fly half Bryce Redmill and vice-captain Jordan Ives put the Oaks on the front foot once more. Some fantastic rucking from our forwards put us close to the tryline, and spotting an opening, scrum half Alex Weldon used his power to force himself over the line for the first Oaks try which was promptly converted by fly half Bryce to put the Oaks ahead.

The half time talk from Tony and Jordan got the Oaks firing on all cylinders, and going into the second half the Oaks started well with some great open play gaining well-deserved yards up the pitch. A few silly mistakes gave Dearn the opportunity they needed to run two tries across the line back to back. However the Oaks kept their heads up and our fantastic supporters from the sidelines gave the team the extra boost they needed to keep going. Thanks to great pitch awareness from Bryce and a fantastic cross field kick which was brilliantly taken in by winger Max for a lovely score in the corner for the Oaks second try. Sadly this was just outside Bryce’s range to convert, but unbowed the Oaks reset to try again.

In the face of the power and intensity of the opposition, and the uncomfortable conditions of the day, the Oaks began to see why Dearn have so far been unbeaten, and with injuries starting to take hold across the Oaks, the loss of two players to injury in quick succession including one of our props to a head injury and not returning to the game put the Oaks down to 13 on the field. This put the Oaks captain in a bit of a dilemma and he tried to quickly rejig the Oaks game plan while still trying to keeps the Oaks spirit’s high. Unfortunately this was not enough and with no subs on the sidelines he had to change a few positions just so they can finish the game with a full pack. This made Dearn take full advantage of the extra players they had and unfortunately the trys kept coming in quick succession.

The Oaks gave absolutely everything to this game despite the conditions and I want to personally thank everyone for the efforts and the once again thank you to all the supporters that braved the cold for some fantastic support from the sidelines.

Tony Day
Captain