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Dorking 20 Chelmsford 19
RFU National U17 Bowl - London and South East Divisional Final - Sunday 6th April
The U17s today won the Regional Final of the U17 National Bowl competition with a hard fought and extremely tense victory over an excellent Chelmsford side and now have the honour of representing London and South East Division in the National Semi-Finals against the winners of South West Division at Henley RFC in two weeks time, on Sunday 20th April.
Everyone woke in the morning to find themselves snowed in and we were surprised to be told that the match was definitely on. Arriving at Old Albanians we discovered that they had missed the worst of the weather and anyhow, their 1st XV pitch had under soil heating so the underfoot conditions were a lot better than we anticipated. However the match was played in bitterly cold conditions, with snow blizzards, brilliant sunshine and strong winds to name but a few of the elements encountered by the players during the match.
We were missing three of our first pick XV today due to Easter holidays so there were changes in the front-row, the centre and the wing.
Dorking had the elements in their favour in the first-half but most of the early play was in midfield. Dorking's first venture into opposition territory resulted in a penalty 35 metres out. It was good to see Jamie select to go for goal as he was obviously confident that he had brought his kicking boots with him today and so it proved as the kick went over to give us an early 3-0 lead. We started to get on top and a couple of final passes going astray after good work from the backs prevented us from adding to the score. Another kickable penalty was awarded which Jamie again coolly slotted over to put us 6-0 up.
Dorking then enjoyed their best period of the whole game putting intense pressure on the Chelmsford defence. With the opposition desperately conceding penalty after penalty and with the excellent ref on the verge of awarding a penalty try Will Crow took a tap penalty, off-loaded to Nick Haigh who bulldozed his way over for a deserved try which was converted by Jamie to put us 13-0 in the ascendancy.
However any thoughts that we may have had that the result would be slightly more comfortable than our quarter-final and semi-final games were soon dispelled when the opposition came right back at us with a try in the corner which was excellently converted to leave Dorking 13-7 up at half-time.
I have to say that with the second half starting with a blizzard blowing in our faces the general concensus on the touchline seemed to be that maybe six points advantage would not be enough. Fortunately however the snow relented after a while but that still didn't stop the opposition putting us under pressure which eventually resulted in us falling asleep at a penalty, allowing the opposition to run down the touchline for a try in the corner which this time was not converted.
So now only 13-12 up and anybody's game. The match fluctuated from end to end as two closely matched sides slugged it out in what was becoming an absorbing contest. Both sides had opportunities before a Dorking scrum some 25 metres out saw No 8 Nick Haigh pick up at the base, off-load to scrum half Will who in turn found Matt Keyte with an excellent pass. Matt ran a great angle to scythe through the opposition defence for an excellent try. That put us 18-12 up so we knew the importance of Jamie's conversion attempt, as if successful that would put us two scores in front. To add to the tension the kick hit the post but dropped just the right side for what ultimately proved to be the deciding moment in the match.
That left Dorking 20-12 up with about 15 minutes to go. Both sides had chances and the opposition turned down 3 easy points from a penalty with 5 minutes left on the clock and chose to run the ball instead which Dorking managed to clear. Dorking wouldn't be Dorking though without the match going right down to the wire and sure enough with two minutes left the opposition scored an excellent individual try although some tired attempts at tackles made the scorer's task slightly easier! The straightforward conversion left us 20-19 up with a minute or so on the clock. The restart kick was sent deep into opposition territory and after no further alarms the referee blew for time and Dorking were crowned winners of the Divisional Bowl competition!
We were never behind today but the match could have gone either way and in many ways we were arguably slightly fortunate to win, Chelmsford outscored us by three tries to two but ultimately Jamie's boot proved to be the difference between winning and losing. The final was played in the best possible spirit with not the slightest sign of indiscipline from either side, a point emphasised by the Divisional Organiser in his presentation speech afterwards, complimenting both sides on being a credit to the Division. Chelmsford were sporting opponents and all their parents and supporters wished us well for the remainder of the competition which was very much appreciated by all those associated with Dorking.
We had four U16s in the squad today although they included both Divisional and County players. All played at least a half as Geoff and Jim were determined to get some pitch time for all of the players in the squad and everyone, without exception, did a professional job.
Dorkings squad - 1. George Evans, 2. George Spreckley, 3. Alex Enemi, 4. Alex Holmes, 5. Alex Goodhew, 6. Ross Watson, 7. Will Randall, 8. Nick Haigh, 9. Will Crow, 10. Fraser Macdonald, 11. Rudy Sanwell, 12. Matt Keyte, 13. Dan Hudson, 14. Steve Mayes, 15. Jamie Phelan, 16. Jonny Ellis, 17. Jonny Stephens, 18. Chris Jones, 19. Will Sharp, 20. Ryan Jeffrey.
Dorking 27 Cranbrook 18
RFU National U17 Bowl - London and South East Divisional Semi-Final - Sunday 16th March
Following the unprecedented fantastic success last year with Dorking RFC’s U17s winning the RFU National Cup, this season’s U17 crop are looking to emulate their contemporaries and are now only one game away from the honour of representing London and South East Division in the National Bowl Semi-Finals having won their way through to the Divisional Final.
The Divisional Semi-Final against Cranbrook RFC from Kent was played in the most appalling conditions of driving wind, rain and mud. Having lost so many players leading up to the previous cup match against Chichester when we had to call on several U16s to help us out, this time we were 'self-sufficient'. However we were still missing a couple of players away at the AER International Tournament in Treviso (Matt with England and Alex G with Luxemburg) plus Alex E who played so well for us in the previous cup match before sustaining a nasty injury which was still not fully recovered in time for this match two weeks later.
Dorking were keen to play up the slope and into the wind and rain in the first half and to just try and stay in touch until half-time and so it proved. The home side however, not for the first time in their history, started slowly perhaps slightly overawed by the occasion although their first venture up-field saw a penalty awarded which was duly converted by Jamie Phelan. The opposition however came straight back and within two minutes a clever cross-kick by their fly-half caught Dorking out of position out wide allowing their winger to touch down in the corner. The first conversion was missed but not for the last time in the game Dorking were penalised for indiscipline, this time for encroaching and considering the awful conditions the second re-taken attempt was brilliantly converted from close to the touchline. Two further penalties resulting from more Dorking indiscipline saw the opposition 13-3 up approaching half-time, eight points of which could easily have been avoided and a strangely subdued Dorking were in danger of being dumped out of the Cup by a confident opposition. However with half-time fast approaching an immense effort from the home side's forwards driving up the slope brought them close to the opposition try-line and a final effort saw them all pile over the line with who else but George Evans rising last clutching the ball to bring the game back to 8-13 as the half-time whistle went.
From looking down and out Dorking suddenly were therefore back in the game, only five points down and with the slope and the wind in their favour in the second-half the pendulum was swinging back their way. And so it proved as a continuous Dorking onslaught meant that the first thirty minutes or so of the second-half were spent almost entirely in the opposition half with Cranbrook rarely threatening. Any opposition attempt at a clearance either got stuck in the mud or the wind and was immediately returned by Dorking who, considering the deteriorating conditions, were showing remarkable ball handling skills as the ball whizzed first one way then the other down the back line as they attempted to break down some heroic defending from the opposition. Ten minutes into the half Will Randall broke through the opposition defence and James Gaymer was alongside in support to take the pass and sprint over for a try that was converted by Phelan and Dorking found themselves back in front 15-13, a lead they were never to surrender. Soon after James's try further pressure, this time from the forwards, saw the ball squirt out the back of an opposition scrum close to their try-line only for No 8 Alex Holmes to dive on the loose ball to touch down. Will Crow then got in on the act with another one of his marvellous individual efforts to slide over under the posts having made the break from 20 metres out. Jamie's straightforward conversion meant that Dorking, from 3-13 down, were now 27-13 in front with 24 unanswered points leaving them two full scores in front with not too long to go. Cranbrook to their credit did not give up and a final huge effort from their forwards with two or three minutes left saw them drive over for a consolation try. The conversion however was missed so the home side knew that the match was won as they were still two scores in front. The final whistle blew and two sets of exhausted players, unrecognisable from each other because of the mud, returned to rapturous applause from the spectators.
Dorking adapted better to the conditions today, especially on a rapidly worsening pitch in the second half but full credit must go to Cranbrook for playing their part in a tremendously entertaining game given the weather and the importance of the occasion.
Dorkings U17s now progress to play Chelmsford RFC from Essex in the London and South East of England Final of the National Bowl at Old Albanians RFC on Sunday 6th April KO 13.30 with the winners progressing to the National Semi-Final two weeks later.
Dorking 24 Chichester 20
RFU National U17 Bowl - London and South East Divisional Quarter-Final - Sunday 2nd March
Talk about best laid plans! We hadn't catered for the fact that Reigate Grammar would qualify for the Daily Mail U18 Vase semi-final in Coventry and we certainly hadn't catered for the fact that someone somewhere in their infinite wisdom had decided to stage the annual Surrey Schools 7's championships on the same day. So the U16s came to our rescue with several of their players supplementing our squad although even they had some of their higher profile players unavailable. So, the 17s started their National Bowl campaign with very much a makeshift side against Chichester RFC from Sussex and against all expectations eventually ran out 24-20 winners in a very close tense encounter that went right down to the wire.
Playing up the slope in the first-half Dorking surprisingly had all of the early play but were unable to capitalise on their territorial superiority with the opposition winning Dorking line-out ball and defensive scrums against the head, enabling them to continually clear their lines. Dorking continued to press but were caught cold after 17 minutes when an opposition counter-attack from inside their own half saw their No 10 break through three missed tackles to score a try under the posts which was duly converted.
Dorking however came storming right back immediately and after several impressive phases of play from the forwards with No 8 Alex Enemi prominent it was left to second-row Jonny Stephens to pick up at the back of a ruck close to the opposition line and force his way over. The conversion attempt from out wide was narrowly missed by Jamie leaving the score at 5-7 to the opposition and there the score remained until half-time without either side really threatening the opposition try-line.
The Dorking boys however knew they had the slope of the pitch in their favour in the second-half and came storming out of the blocks. After several minutes of almost continuous pressure emergency scrum-half Dan Hudson picked up at the base of the scrum and shot off down the blindside catching the opposition out of position to touch down for a marvellous individual try which was converted by full-back Jamie Phelan to leave the home side 12-7 up and in front for the first time.
More pressure from Dorking was further rewarded five minutes later when following some clever inter-play between backs and forwards, back row Alex Holmes went over in the corner to leave the home side well in the ascendancy at 17-7 in front.
Dorking then for some reason inexplicably eased off and allowed the spirited opposition right back into the game and in 10 mad minutes Chichester got close to the Dorking try-line on three occasions and came away with two tries and a penalty to suddenly leave them 20-17 in front with less than ten minutes left on the clock. The shell-shocked home side however managed to regroup and strong pressure saw the opposition desperately conceding penalty after penalty as the Dorking forwards got ever closer to the opposition try-line. One fairly straightforward penalty kick was missed but a draw would have been no good to us as the competition rules would have meant the away side going through, so when the next penalty was awarded and with time fast running out, Dorking chose to run the ball and it was left to powerhouse prop George Evans to collect the pass and force his way over for the match-winning try which was duly converted by No 10 Fraser Macdonald. Three minutes later and with no further alarms the full time whistle saw an elated and relieved home side through 24-20.
Given the circumstances this was an excellent victory today but full credit must also be given to Chichester for playing their full part in an entertaining game. We wish them well for the future.
Dorkings U17s now progress to play Cranbrook RFC from Kent in the London and South East of England Semi-Final of the National Bowl at home on Sunday 16th March KO 12.00 with the winners progressing to the Divisional Final three weeks later.