Under 12s Dartfordians v Sevenoaks 28/09/25

On a bright autumnal morning, Dartfordians under 12s made the trip to Sevenoaks for their first ever league game in the Under 12s Kent Boys Youth Waterfalls tournament.

Coaches: Gareth, Tim, Stuart, Billy and Fran.

Players: Oli, Henry, Will, Lucas, Finley, Ted, Luca, Ethan, Billy, Arthur, Max, Logan, Ronnie, Zac, Jimmy B, Jimmy K and Jake.

It was all new for the boys, as this was their first time playing under these competitive conditions. There were some nerves, but they were overshadowed by excitement when head coach Gareth led the pre-game speech. Using changing rooms, having actual playing positions, and competing on a real first team pitch made these boys feel like adults.

From the offset, it was clear that Sevenoaks were quick to react at the breakdown. Forward brothers Will and Oli responded well to the challenge and used their strength to compete in the rucks. The teams were well matched with back and forth between them for the opening 10 minutes without a score.

Darts Strike First. After another defensive kick from Sevenoaks, fullback Logan caught the highball, side stepped a few defenders then off loaded to Arthur on the right wing. Arthur then turned on the gas scoring in the right corner.

Sevenoaks retaliated with 2 of their own, ending the first half, with Darts down 2-1. Spirits were still high and the coaches were impressed with the team's performance in the first half.

Then the bench came on including Zac, Ronnie and the Jimmy's, to relieve some players and put in their own valuable contributions. Jimmy B coming on as scrum half replacement for Teddy. Shortly into the second half Logan scored to bring the scores equal.

Then things started to get away from Darts, with a few handling errors, and turnovers on the breakdown. Sevenoaks scored the next 4 tries to bring the score 6 tries to 2 to Sevenoaks.

Despite the growing lead, Darts kept their heads held high and battled on. With some monster tackles from Ethan (opposition coaches complimenting his excellent technique), Teddy and Billy also making consistent tackles, not allowing any further metres gained. Sevenoaks couldn't make much progress on attack. There were some great runs from Henry and Lucas being used for their hard carrying (Henry was happy that he could finally use a hand-off legally). As usual, Max and Jake used their pace to get outside the opposition to make serious gains in distance and some important tackles in defence too which prevented scoring opportunities. Luca was consistent in his role as fly half and captain steering the team where they were needed, reading the defence well.

The next chapter of the game was owned by Darts, 3 unanswered tries scored, by Henry - with a photo worthy dive to top off, a second for Arthur and Finley breaking the line then going untouched from 20 metres out for our final try . Darts were only down by 1 with the game momentum in their favour, the clock now the biggest enemy. The final whistle blew to bring the final result to 6 tries-5 to Sevenoaks. The late surge of tries from Darts secured an additional bonus point.

Despite the loss, there was not an unhappy face at full time, as all players and coaches were content that they put it all out on the field.

Darts U12's are thankful to Sevenoaks and the ref for a competitive game and being great hosts.

Final Score: Dartfordians 25, Sevenoaks 30

Try scorers: Arthur (2), Logan, Henry, Finley

Top shot: Billy, honourable mention: Teddy.

Player of Match: Max, honourable mention: Arthur.