After an indifferent set of results in week one all four Skolars sides were in action gain on Saturday with the 12’s, 14’s and 16’s playing at home whilst Neil Thorman took his 18’s team to play the newly named Barking & Dagenham Bulldogs.
Skolars 18’s were considerably smaller in the forwards than Bulldogs but players playing out of position showed a lot of heart. The game started with Barking & Dagenham taking an early lead with back to back scores. Skolars hit back before half time with a try though the middle by Gavin Dilworth, and a successful kick from Jack Avery. Skolars trailed at half time 24-6.
In the second half players Skolars had a few players who were playing through injures. With some good push Louie Sutherland was able to dummy through the line and score, with another successful conversion. Throughout the game Skolars had four players come off the field. Another try was then scored by Sahid Kpaka straight under the sticks, even though he was playing with a dead leg he picked up in a previous training session. Unfortunately it was then Bulldogs u18s turn to score back to back tries, making the end score 36-18. There were a few contenders for man of the match. Louie Sutherland constantly taking the ball forward, Kamil Bydon for great enthusiasm and effort going forward in attack. Also Jack Clover and Aita Kuniyoshi for their top display in defence. But man of the match goings to Sahid Kpaka for fighting through injury and always making himself available to run the ball.
After last weekend’s poor performance against the Brentwood Elvers, Skolars under 16s looked to improve against the tough Croydon Hurricanes. From the kick off it was clear that Skolars had improved dramatically with a solid defensive effort. In attack the Skolars looked very inventive and Ahmet Kobra and Anthony Barry gave the team some great go forward in the pack. Tuoyo Egodo was a revelation in the halfs, spraying the ball around the pitch and making numerous line breaks. He was rewarded with the first, and second try of the match giving Skolars a 10 point lead. The Hurricanes struck back before half time, giving them a 16 – 10 lead at the break. The second half got off to a solid start but Croydon’s superior fitness showed through with Skolars only scoring one try in the second half, through hat trick hero Tuoyo Egodo. The final score was 44 – 14 but the performance was vastly improved. Man of the match was second row Shae Osinakie who tackled everything above the ground and put in some solid meters in attack.
Skolars 14’s gained their first victory of the season with a 26-6 win over Newham whilst the 12’s went down 26-4 to Croydon with Josh Clarke scoring for the hosts.
