Kingstone Press League 1
London Skolars 26 Oxford 16
Skolars won their first home game of the league campaign, but were made to work hard by a determined Oxford side.
They went into an early lead when Jermaine Coleman offloaded for Will Lovell to score down the right and went further ahead when they created an overlap for John Paxton to race over in the left corner, Charlie Lawrence adding the conversion.
Oxford came back after an error from a high kick gave the visitors a scrum five metres from the tryline. Casey Canterbury took the ball from the base of the scrum and raced past the defence with worrying ease. Oxford then enjoyed a period of sustained possession. Canterbury was held up over the line and the visitors earned two goal line drop outs.
But Skolars defence held firm and they started to control the game again. Louis Robinson’s introduction from the bench saw him make several yard-gaining runs. Ben Pointer was held up over the tryline. When he picked up the ball from dummy half after the next tackle, he nipped over the line. Mikre Bishay took over the kicking duties with Lawrence off the field and his conversion gave Skolars a solid 16-6 lead at half-time.
Skolars went further ahead soon after the break when Jon Magrin found space on the left flank. Both sides struggled to mount a meaningful attack until just after the hour mark. Skolars lost possession then conceded a penalty. That gave Oxford a good position and Harvey Burnett (who played for Skolars last season whilst on dual registration from Broncos scored down the right. They narrowed the gap to 6 points with 10 minutes remaining when Tom Holmes chipped the ball past Alex Anthony and regathered to race 30 metres to the tryline, Nathan Kitson adding the conversion.
However, Skolars had the final say when Eddie Mbaraga broke through the Oxford defence a couple of minutes later, to the delight of the crowd, many of whom had raced to the game after seeing London Broncos win at Ealing earlier in the afternoon.
SKOLARS
1 Alex Anthony
2 Sam Nash
3 Aaron Small
4 Joe Price
5 John Paxton
6 Jermaine Coleman
7 Mike Bishay
8 Michael Sykes
9 Charlie Lawrence
11 Toby Everett
13 Eddie Mbaraga
12 Will Lovell
10 Dave Williams
Subs
14 Ben Pointer
19 Erjon Dollapi
16 Jon Magrin
17 Louis Robinson
Tries: Lovell (4), Paxton (8), Pointer (35), Magrin (44), Mbaraga (72)
Goals: Lawrence 1/2, Bishay 2/3
OXFORD
1 Nathan Kitson
2 Connor Hughes
3 Andy Hoggins
4 Harvey Burnett
5 Josh Nathaniel
6 Tom Holmes
7 Aaron Dubek
8 Dan Igbinedon
9 Casey Canterbury
10 Izaac Duffy
11 Mark Hayes
12 James Harrison
13 Marcus Brooker
Subs (all used)
14 Santino Decaro
15 Tom Davies
16 Adam Flintham
17 Josh Thomas
Tries: Canterbury (17), Burnett (62), Tom Holmes (70)
Goals: Kitson 2/3
Penalty count: 8-10
Half-time: 16-6
Referee: Warren Turley
Attendance: 331
SCORING SEQUENCE: 4-0, 10-0, 10-6, 16-6, 22-6, 22-10, 22-16, 26-16
