Captain Cian Tappan praised The Oratory School 1st XV’s ‘heart and passion’ after they snatched Berkshire County Cup silverware with a dramatic 14-13 victory against Reading Blue Coat on Wednesday 10 December.
On a cold evening at Maidenhead RFC, both sides started brightly on the fast 4G surface with man-of-the-match Tappan and Debo Coker producing eye-catching bursts before the former gave his side the lead, peeling off the back of a maul to run in from just inside the Blue Coat’ 22.
Somto Monye added the extras, but there were no further scores before the break as Oratory led 7-0.
Their opponents began to work their way back into the contest, impressive fly-half Jack Brand knocking over two penalties to trim the deficit to a single point.
And as the game reached its closing stages, Blue Coat hit the front when Benji Carmen wriggled over before Brand landed another fine kick into the wind.
Yet with less than two minutes remaining, the mercurial Monye made the decisive play, his dancing feet and turn of pace leaving a trail of would-be defenders in his wake before a trademark swallow dive under the posts.
The full-back, who switched to fly-half in the second period, made no mistake with the conversion, and with Rudi Derbyshire claiming a vital late breakdown turnover, The Oratory took the glory.
Tappan, who had been ill in the build-up to last week’s final, admitted: “It was an emotional game and one which went right down to the wire, so we’re just very happy to get it done. I went out there with a lot of energy but perhaps ran out of a bit of gas in the second half – I was tiring and cramping up yet kept going for the boys.
“We showed a huge amount of heart and passion, every single player on the pitch was going at 110 per cent.”
And in what will be his final 15-a-side game for the school, the South African concluded, “Playing for The Oratory has meant absolutely everything. I want to go on and keep playing, but I’ll have plenty of special memories from my time here.”
Head of Rugby, Mikey Hennessy added, “It was a real ebb-and-flow game and credit to both teams. I’d also like to thank all our departing students who have been great examples for the school in their time here.”
The Oratory has enjoyed a successful season with the Under 14s also in action in the Berkshire County Cup final age-equivalent group but were unable to complete a cup double as they were beaten 23-7 by Claires Court earlier in the afternoon.
