Entering the match deprived of the services of England hooker Will Tanner, Wales number eight Gareth Evans and South West flanker Harry Casson through injury and illness, the unfamiliar pack made a point from the kick off with a crunching tackle from Cassons replacement Alex Woodburn and a wave of black shirts piling into the ensuing breakdown.
However, it was to prove a false dawn as Oaklands dominated the opening exchanges. A string of silly penalties and handling errors cost the home side, and Oaklands deservedly broke the deadlock with a fifth-minute penalty.
Ian Clark thought that he had put Hartpury in front against the run of play six minutes later, but he was pulled back by the referee who ruled that he had a foot in touch, before the Oaklands kicker spurned the chance to double the visitors lead with a penalty.
Nonetheless, Rob Langley ensured that Hartpury did not suffer from the missed Clark opportunity as his try snatched the lead in fortuitous circumstances on eighteen minutes.
The second row, doubtful before the game with a foot injury, halted an Oaklands attack in its tracks, swallowing up a floated pass. He showed a tremendous turn of pace in sprinting fully seventy metres to dive under the posts, outstripping the visitors despairing centre who had chased in vain. Ryan Mills gladly accepted the gift of two extra points.
The lucky try failed to spark Hartpury into life as such and they allowed their opponents to remain on the front foot by conceding penalties and dropping the ball, albeit never really being stretched defensively. Even so, there were still tackles to be made, with the back row trio of Woodburn, Louis Spencer and Dan Hull working tirelessly.
Once again, Oaklands were left scratching their heads when the hosts doubled their points tally with eight minutes left in the half.
Fine play from the inside backs Rory Kettlewell, Dan Robson and Ryan Mills off a scrum on the left-hand side sucked in a plethora of red-shirted defenders, allowing the next back in line Harry Sanders, who had an excellent game in attack and defence, to scythe through the heart of the Saracens midfield and score a converted try.
The second try seemed to deflate Oaklands and inspire Hartpury, as the latter finally managed to get a grip on the game, and it was not long before the gap on the score board was extended further.
In pre-season, Ian Clark established a name for himself in scoring spectacular solo efforts, and he did not disappoint the watching crowd in this match.
With the ball bobbling around on the Oaklands ten-metre line, the winger scooped it up and unleashed a wicked sidestep on the approaching first defender, before gliding in between two others, outpacing a fourth and touching down by the posts, leaving Mills with another simple kick.
The all-important fourth try, which resulted in a bonus point, was scored immediately after the restart, again by the prolific Clark.
For once, it was not an awe-inspiring solo score, as this time Ryan Mills did the hard work by cutting through the core of Oaklands and handing the ball on to Clark, who had the simplest of finishes out wide, which unfortunately Mills was not able to convert into seven points. With that, the interval was signalled with Hartpury leading 26-3.
The floodgates looked like opening at the start of the second half when James Clutterbuck joined his second row partner Rob Langley on the score sheet after some dreadful Oaklands play on their own 22, but it was not to be as the visitors monopolised the ball to an even greater extent than in the first half.
Like in the first twenty minutes, they posed little threat to the try line. They did attempt to play a little wider than in the first period, but they were always met by the immovable objects Clark and his fellow back three members James Price and Josh Hawkins.
They did breach the hosts defence eventually after a period of sustained pressure and repeated concession of penalties by Hartpury saw their lively winger go over in the corner. The kicker was off target with his conversion attempt, but, in truth, the try was scant consolation.
Dan Robson made certain that the men from Hertfordshire did not even get the last laugh as he darted over for a converted score that his performance on the day deserved, which, in turn, gave Hartpury a bittersweet 40-8 victory.
Assistant Junior Academy Director Chris Dewsnap believes that there is much more to come from Hartpury College this season.
"I felt the score line flattered us given that we played poorly by our standards," he explained.
"However, at the same time, we could have and should have scored more."
"If we had kept the penalty count down and not made so many handling errors, I think that we would have done so."
Academy Director Alan Martinovic echoed Dewsnap's sentiments.
"Given that this was the first full match for the boys this season, I suppose you could say that it was a great result," he said.
"Having said that, I think that we only played at a level of about 25% of what we are capable of playing. We made some bad decisions and handling errors."
"We will need to work on that, for sure. But, when all is said and done, we got the six points [four for the win, one for scoring four tries and one for fulfilling the fixture] and that is what matters."
With the AASE league now up and running the standard of rugby on show has improved a great deal over the last year, players are fitter, stronger and more skillful than before. Many of the players on show are also part of the Gloucester's Silver Academy Group and on this evidence, the combination of the Gloucester's AASE Scheme and the Silver Academy Group should produce players for the Cherry and Whites for years to come.
Squad:
1 Taylor 2 Gape 3 Heard 4 Langley (1t) 5 Clutterbuck (1t) 6 Woodburn 7 Spencer 8 Hull 9 Kettlewell 10 Robson (1t) 11 Clark (2t) 12 Mills (captain, 5c) 13 Harry Sanders (1t) 14 Price 15 Hawkins 16 Tom Sanders 17 Litchfield 18 Madge 19 Hughes (Woodburn) 20 Miller (Kettlewell) 21 Powell (Clark) 22 Fuller
Man of the Match: Alex Woodburn
