Oaks cut down to size

Dunstonians beat Sevenoaks by the eventually comfortable margin of 36 points to 7 on Saturday, featuring no less than six tries - 2 from Jayden Dallalana, 2 from Ashley Rio and one each from skipper Alistair Burges and winger Linval Antonio.

The old boys were the better side in the first period and build a useful half time lead of 18 points, but with Sevenoaks showing power in the tight and with the advantage of the slope in the second period, the result was no means guaranteed.

The first 30 minutes of the second half was almost exclusively Sevenoaks possession. That this surfeit of ball resulted in no points was partly due ot the visitors poor descison making and worse execution and partly to some robust defence from the old boys. In defending the breakdown D's gave away a string of kickable penalties, all of which Oaks eschewed in favour of kicks to the corner where their malfunctioning lineout gave possession right back to the home side. A few successful goal kicks would have seen the D's lead eroded to managable propotions, but the visitors seemed determined to go for broke. With the Sevenoaks pack bettering D's at scrum time it was remarkable that this supremecy also never became the platform for points, as knock ons at the base and missed passes in midfield butchered a number of good field positions. The feeling came that D's had weathered the storm as, finally making progress into Oaks territory D's missed a penalty before two late tries (both excellently converted by Ashley Rio) confirmed the win and the bonus point and most importantly puts D's right on the shoulders of the three sides just ahead of them.

A terrific bonues point win against a side who's own results seggest they are no mugs should give D's heart for the rest of the campaign. The table shows the formation of two leagues within a league so its now pretty obvious which games are must win. Featuring in the sides from the upper half are Charlton Park who D's visit next week in a tough assignment to end 2012