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U14 Season 2004/2005
U14 Surrey League Division 1 Effingham & Leatherhead Home Won 12 5 Cobham Away Won 24 5 Esher Home Won 32 12 London Irish Away Lost 0 24 Rosslyn Park Away Lost 10 26 Richmond Home Won 25 15 Warlingham Away Won 12 0 Sutton & Epsom Home Won 29 7 Chipstead Away Won 17 0 Played 9 Won 7 Drawn 0 Lost 2 161 94 Vandals 7s East Grinstead Won 36 0 Old Cats Won 17 7 Colchester Won 7 5 Esher Won 14 10 Aylesford Won 26 0 Barking (SEMI-FINAL) Won 19 5 Old Elthamians (FINAL) Won 21 5 Played 7 Won 7 Drawn 0 Lost 0 140 32 Squad Friendlies Chobham Home Won 47 19 Horsham Away Won 22 0 Pulborough Away Won 24 0 Chipstead Away Lost 10 22 Medway Home Won 44 5 Guildford Away Lost 14 22 Cranleigh Home Won 39 17 Effingham & Leatherhead Away Won 17 0 Cranbrook Home Won 41 17 Coolmine Home Lost 7 10 Played 10 Won 7 Drawn 0 Lost 3 265 112 566 238
A hastily arranged fixture after Coolmine had been badly let down elsewhere, having already committed to flights and accommodation. A family connection put the two two clubs in contact and we were more than happy to accommodate them, we had no other commitments other than our end of season BBQ and awards. And what an excellent day it turned out to be.
Coolmine had 26 or so players, we only had 22 with quite a few absent through injury, cricket and County U15 10's amongst other things. Coolmine ran out thoroughly deserved winners of the game, scoring two tries to our one, although it would have been interesting if Nick, Jamie and Matthew in particular had been available. However the result was never going to be the be all and end all of the day, the emphasis after our long and very successful season during which the boys had numerous tough matches, was to have a fun day, recognise the achievements of our side and to look after our visitors. I like to think we accomplished all of that.
Coolmine, after many years of trying and coming close, were crowned Dublin Metropolitan Division 1 champions this season and it was easy to see why. They were confident and committed, strong all round the park, were obviously well coached and would comfortably hold their own in Surrey Division 1. The format for the game was three twenty minute periods and the first period saw both sides field their strongest XV's available. This period was scoreless, with two evenly balanced sides slugging it out. Coolmine probably edged it territorially while Dorking perhaps had clearer scoring opportunities, although these were few and far between. The second period saw Dorking bring on all of their subs, Coolmine made a similar number of changes and it was their strength in depth which swung the game their way with two well executed tries out wide, neither of which were converted.
The third period saw continuous rolling on and rolling off of Dorking players and the home side hit back with a superb individual long range effort from captain Will Randall, converted by Fraser Macdonald but despite a number of Dorking breaks, with Dan Hudson and David Nickerson both prominent, the game ended with Coolmine again in Dorking territory.
Our visitors eventually managed to get away much later on after an afternoon of photos, BBQ, awards, speeches, presentations and much parental re-hydration in the clubhouse. I eventually went home and went straight to bed thankful that it was a Bank Holiday the following day (!).
Our thanks to John Coady and all the Coolmine coaching staff, parents and players, all real ambassadors of their club and Dublin league rugby. We have an open-ended offer to visit them and I am hopeful that something can be arranged for later on next season.
Finally, congratulations to Nick, David and James for picking up the three top awards and thank you to each and every player in the squad for all of their efforts throughout what has been a fantastic season.
The boys ended their league season in a fitting manner with their seventh win out of nine, this time against a spirited and fired-up Chipstead side who always seem to be that extra bit up for it whenever they take the field against us.
Dorking spent most of the match in opposition territory, with only the occasional punt up-field relieving the pressure, but countless Dorking chances came and went through poor decision making on our behalf plus superb Chipstead defence. Three or four times the ball was held up over their try-line and on several other occasions only last-ditch defending prevented us from crossing their line. Our own try-line was never seriously threatened with Chipstead I think only getting into our 22 once the whole game.
We were without Nick, our most influential player this season, who was still injured following our Vandals triumph last week. Brendan also dropped out on the eve of the game (get well soon guys). Matthew Keyte made his debut for us in the centre, Matt Gunasekera moved to the back row with Jack Greenway (1st half) and James Tapson (2nd) standing in for us in the second row.
We scored three tries. The first from left wing Greg Watson after the ball was whizzed down the backs following a five metre scrum, with Jamie Phelan again converting superbly from right on the touchline. George Evans scored the second, his strength forcing the ball down following an impressive Dorking drive. The third was almost a carbon copy of the first, but this time the ball was spun down the backs the other way to right wing Stephen McKiernan who stormed in from 20 metres out.
Our pace in the backs was the main difference between the two sides today although the very narrow pitch restricted our potency in that area on occasions. Also on numerous occasions the ball carrier took the ball into contact rather than look for and off-load to the support runners, only for possession to be turned over at the breakdown. All aspects of our line-out were poor today, although that wasn't entirely unexpected given our two absentees, the scrum was solid enough though with Spreckers managing to win 4 or 5 against the head.
So, the league season finishes with us joint second on points (third on points difference) in Division 1, a truly remarkable achievement. We have been involved in some pulsating matches along the way, Richmond in particular sticks in the mind and our seven league victories saw us score twenty six tries and concede only eight.
We have taken an enormous leap forward this season and leap-frogged most of the best club sides in the county. This is a wonderful achievement for the players, coaches, parents and for the club itself and is way beyond even our wildest expectations, with the objective at the start of the season merely being to retain our position in Division 1. It is still just about the same side as last year which makes the progress this season even more remarkable. I can only put it down to the hard work that all of the players and coaches have put in, but the thing that probably sets us apart from the rest is the unbelievable team spirit amongst the players. We have played sides over the last couple of seasons who have self-destructed when things haven't gone their way or if they have fallen behind, losing their self-discipline and arguing amongst themselves. I have lost count of the number of occasions we have fallen behind, yet have just dug deeper and eventually pulled through to, in a lot of instances, win quite comfortably.
The challenge facing us now of course is to repeat it all again next season and maybe even surpass it. This will be a much more difficult challenge for us all as we initially probably caught a few sides by surprise this year, thinking we were a soft touch. We certainly surprised ourselves with how much we have improved in comparison to others. The element of surprise has gone now though as everyone recognises and acknowledges our pedigree and will be trying doubly hard to turn us over next season. We must therefore double our efforts with our player and coaching recruitment plans, which is moving forward already. Well done and well played everybody and enjoy the summer.
In our first major Festival triumph ever our ten player squad defeated quality opposition from Surrey, Essex, Kent, Sussex, Suffolk and London with a series of spectacular individual and team performances to lift our first piece of major silverware.
The squad won all seven of their games through the group and knock-out stages and yet again our team spirit and never-say-die attitude triumphed over adversity as a number of games were extremely close and on more than one occasion we found ourselves trailing. However over the last couple of seasons the boys have learnt how to respond in such situations and yet again, even in the time shortened format of 7's rugby, they refused to lie down and fought their way back each time. Quite frankly, their courage and commitment when they find themselves up against it never ceases to amaze me.
It was a twelve team tournament, split into two groups of six sides with the top two from each group progressing to the semi-finals and final. First up in our group were East Grinstead, a side that we haven't played since our Minis days and we recorded a comfortable 36-0 victory. James Gaymer scored two tries, as did Dan Hudson and there was one apiece for Will Crow and Matt Gunasekera. Our normal kicker Jamie Phelan was not 100% so sat this one out, so Will Crow and James Gaymer shared the goal-kicking responsibilities, converting two and one apiece respectively.
Next up were Old Cats, a very strong and physical side and the boys soon found themselves 7-0 down. However we responded magnificently with tries from James Gaymer, Jamie Phelan and Nick Haigh with Jamie converting one, to record a hard fought 17-7 victory.
The third match was against Colchester who hosted us on tour last season. We expected them to also be a very strong, skilful and physical side and so it proved. Nick put us in front with Jamie converting but back came Colchester with a try of their own to make it 7-5 and anyone's game. With the clock ticking down and Dorking on the attack Colchester counter-attacked and broke through our defensive line. As the Colchester player raced off towards our try-line James Gaymer appeared from nowhere and despite giving the opposition player, who was no slouch himself, a 10 metre start managed to catch him for a match saving tackle. Fantastic stuff which enabled us to hang for a close victory 7-5.
Next up were our old friends and adversaries from Esher, who themselves had also won all of their previous games. Dorking raced into a 14-0 half-time lead with tries from Dan and Jamie, both unbelievably converted from right on the touchline by Jamie. Back though came Esher with two second-half tries and lots of pressure but Dorking held on for a 14-10 victory, Jamie's two brilliant conversions being the only difference between the two sides.
The last group game was against Aylesford from Kent. This time we managed a rather more comfortable victory by 26-0 with two tries from Will Crow, one from Will Randall and one from George Evans. Jamie's superb form with the boot continued with three more conversions.
So, five wins out of five in the group gave us the dubious honour of a semi-final against Barking, who had looked awesome in their group games on the other pitch. Again they were a very strong, physical side and they quickly raced in to a 5-0 lead which remained the score until half-time. The boys just would not lie down though and equalised early in the second-half with another James Gaymer special. Anyone's game again. Dorking however started to grow in self-confidence and soon afterwards Dan Hudson took off down the wing and his blinding pace took him round the outside of the defence for a try right in the corner. Yet again Jamie came up with a bit of absolute magic and converted from right on the touchline. 12-5. Barking were shell-shocked and responded by throwing the ball around long and wide to try and break us down. From one attempted long pass however Jamie reacted superbly to intercept and sprinted in from 25 metres out for the match-clinching try. 19-5 and a truly superb victory.
And so to the Final against Old Elthamians, a side we knew nothing about, but like us had won their previous six games. Rumours emanating from the other group and from our friends at Esher who had lost to them in the other semi-final, told us they were a superbly organised 7's side with a lot of rehearsed moves and missed plays. A real 7's side not a XV playing 7's rugby.
I think we caught them cold with a very early long distance Matt Gunasekera special which Jamie converted. However we lost Nick, victim of a nasty looking ankle injury in the build-up to the try. Old Elthamians hit back almost immediately to make it 7-5 and with our most influential player of the season off the park I feared the worst. However Alex Holmes came on and played an absolute blinder so believe it or not we ended up hardly missing Nick at all.
Half-time reached, still 7-5 up yet probably facing the toughest five minutes of our season. So what did we do, we stepped up a gear. James Gaymer and Dan Hudson, again both showing blistering pace, both scooted over for wonderful long-distance tries under the posts giving Jamie two simple conversions. The boys were not going to let this one get away and their tackling in the last two or three minutes of the game was absolutely awesome and Old Elthamians did not get close to our try-line again. So a fantastic memorable victory was achieved 21-5.
Some wonderful victory celebrations and photos followed and then it was back down to the club to see Geoff and Jim. What started off as winners of the Vandals 7's soon became winners of the South Eastern 7's and a few pints later winners of the Inter-Galactic 7's.
Many thanks to all mums and dads and siblings for their support and many thanks to Bob and Co from Esher for staying behind and for their vocal support for Dorking in the final.
Just one final interesting footnote - we scored 22 tries during the tournament, 15 of which were converted. We conceded six times, only one of which was converted. Our kicking was the difference between winning and not winning in two of the games. I really should have backed Kicking King when it recently won the Cheltenham Gold Cup !
Unbelievable stuff boys. The whole club is extremely proud of you.
Victorious squad - Will Randall (C), Nick Haigh, Dan Hudson, Will Crow, Jamie Phelan, James Gaymer, Matthew Gunasekera, George Evans, Alex Holmes and David Nickerson.
LEAGUE TRIES CONVS East Grinstead
W36-0 Gaymer 2, Hudson 2, Crow, Gunasekera Crow 2, Gaymer Old Cats
W17-7 Gaymer, Phelan, Haigh Phelan Colchester W7-5
Haigh Phelan Esher W14-10 Hudson, Phelan Phelan 2 Aylesford W26-0
Crow 2, Randall, Evans Phelan 3 SEMI-FINAL Barking W19-5 Gaymer, Hudson, Phelan Phelan 2 FINAL Old Elthamians W21-5 Gunasekera, Gaymer, Hudson Phelan 3
During the week leading up to the game, as it became apparent that we would be missing an ever increasing number of the regular league players, I was starting to get concerned. I needn't have worried though, all of the boys who stepped in either from the start or during the game acquitted themselves admirably which also augurs well for our objective of putting two sides in to the leagues next season.
We were without Matt Gunasekera, Dan Hudson, Will Crow, George Spreckley, Greg Watson and Jack Greenway. Geoff spent hours agonising over the various permutations left open to him but eventually sided on Callum Bennett and James Tapson coming in at prop and blind-side respectively, with David Nickerson moving to hooker and captain Will Randall to open-side. In the backs Fraser Macdonald took over scrum-half duties with Jamie Phelan moving to fly-half and there were call-ups for Jon Yates, Timmy Abel and Michael Taylor at centre, wing and full-back respectively.
As usual we were fast asleep at the start and after four minutes Sutton & Epsom scored a well-executed try which they duly converted. A few minutes followed during which we failed to get any platform from which to build but once we scored it settled us down. The rest of the match was all one way traffic and I don’t think S&E got out of their half again.
We scored twice before half-time through Nick Haigh and George Evans, the second being brilliantly converted by Jamie Phelan from the right touchline, to leave us rather tenuously placed 12-7 up at half-time.The second-half however saw us repeat our performance of our last league game at Warlingham, spending just about the whole of the half around the opposition try line. Whenever S&E managed to clear the ball the positional play of Jamie Phelan usually brought the ball right back from where it came. Three more tries saw George Evans bag his second, David Nickerson complete a hat-trick for the front row and James Gaymer round off an excellent personal performance with a deserved score after a fly-hack and chase.
If truth be told we could have scored a hatful more but that didn't really matter as league points are more important to us now at this stage of the season than points scored. I must mention the heroic S&E defence though and that plus a lack of continuity in the game caused by a number of stoppages plus Geoff taking the opportunity to give a run-out to all of the squad players, prevented us from adding to our tally. All of the substitutes who came off the bench - Arif, Ben, Hamish, Jolyon and Richard all slotted in without any problem and did themselves proud.
Sutton & Epsom have always been very good friends of ours, both at the age group and at club level. They always used to get the better of us in the Minis and it is very sad that they have lost a lot of good players through no fault of their own. It looks like they may well go down a league but their coaches were refreshingly positive about it, seeing it as an opportunity to regroup. We sincerely hope they do and we are sure they will as they still retain a lot of talented players. Hopefully we can fix something up for next season.
The team spirit, camaraderie and the all for one and one for all attitude of this squad of players is an absolute joy to watch and they thoroughly deserve all of the plaudits they are receiving. That's six wins out of eight in the league now, with one still to play. Fantasy league stuff and it looks now like fourth place is the worst we can finish. Now the pressure is off though it would be fitting to round it all off with one good final all-round performance in our last league match in April.
It wasn't pretty but the young men of Dorking ground out a victory today against a Warlingham side who out-rucked us and out-mauled us all game turning over countless ball. Despite that our defensive qualities meant that our try line was never really under serious threat all game and as such we managed to keep a clean sheet for the first time in a while.
I think that we played our "get out of jail" card today. Delighted with the news that the Schools 7s were cancelled because of the weather we were therefore able to call on the numerous boys that we had previously written off which was an unexpected bonus. Even so it was far from our most impressive performance of the season and we would have struggled without anywhere near our strongest side. Fair play to Warlingham though as I said, they denied us any platform from which to build and they taught us a lesson in one or two areas today.
Skipper Will Randall won the toss and elected to play up the slope and into the breeze and after Warlingham missed a kickable penalty in the first minute most of the play in the first half was in Dorking territory without, as I said, us ever really being under severe pressure.
Come to think of it I can only recall us getting out of our half twice and we ended up scoring both times. The first after eight minutes followed a Warlingham scrum on the half-way line. However an immense effort from the Dorking pack won us our only turnover ball of the half. There is no better ball than turnover ball and we exploited this to devastating effect. Scrum half Will Crow broke on the blind-side and off-loaded to Greg Watson on the wing, Greg in turn found Nick Haigh inside in support and Nick sprinted in unopposed from 30 metres out to touch down under the posts, Jamie Phelan converting 7-0.
The game settled back into the previous pattern until approaching half-time when Dorking again worked their way back up the park. From a scrum out on the right some 25 metres or so out Will Crow again made a blindside break and off-loaded to Nick who looked like scoring himself but was collared a couple of metres out. Nick managed to turn as he was going down and popped the ball up to Will Randall who arrived at pace in support to crash through the opposition defence and touch down. Jamie was only narrowly wide with his conversion attempt from the right touchline. Half-Time 12-0.
The second-half was almost an exact opposite of the first with Dorking holding a substantial territorial advantage with the game developing into a war of attrition. Any thoughts we may have had though of adding to our score playing with the slope and breeze in our favour were thwarted by ferocious Warlingham defending and bad decision making on our behalf and a number of opportunities came and went as a result.
The result was never really in doubt in the second-half given our territorial superiority but we had to fight until the final whistle as Warlingham looked to counter attack at every opportunity.
So that's five league wins out of seven now with two to play as we strive for our highest possible league finish. Fourth or even third are a possibility now. If anyone had suggested that at the beginning of the season then they would probably have been carted off to the local sanitorium.
Anyhow our thanks as usual to Robin and all others at Warlingham, particularly for their efforts in ensuring that the match took place. We wish them well for the remainder of the season and look forward to another close encounter next season.
Twenty five players turned up today which was excellent considering it was half term and that we knew beforehand that a large number were either ill or away, so many thanks to all players and parents alike for making the effort.
Given all the league matches recently this was an ideal opportunity to give a run-out to all those players who missed out on those games as well as an opportunity for the coaches to assess everyone in advance of our last three league matches, where we know that a lot of our regular league players will not be available because of school commitments and holidays.
We therefore agreed with Cranbrook beforehand to play four quarters to enable both sides to roll on and roll off players thoughout the game although, as has been proved in the past, it is always difficult to get the balance right in these types of fixtures.
Dorking were always in front and generally in control of the game after opening the scoring early on through a trademark Matt Gunasekera score converted by Michael Taylor, although a spirited Cranbrook fight-back in the third quarter, when they outscored us 12-0, could have led to an interesting final quarter. The home side though started to play a more expansive game and pulled right away with three further unanswered tries to ultimately run out comfortable winners.
Dorking touched down seven times in total - Nick Haigh with his usual brace, Matty with his second, James Gaymer, Greg Watson and a debut try from Jolyon Dennis at outside-centre completing the try count, with Fraser Macdonald slotting over a couple of conversions.
The conditions led to quite a scrappy game overall to be honest although when Dorking did open up their pace around the park was electric which left Geoff puffing to keep up on occasions!
Anyway, well played to everyone, the news boys in particular, namely Jolyon, Richard, Hamish, Marcus, Dan and Anthony. Our thanks also to Cranbrook for travelling up from Kent, we already have a return fixture arranged with them for next season to look forward to.
Back to winning ways after a tense and hard-fought encounter between two evenly matched sides, both suffering from flu absentees and unavailability, that finally only swung Dorking's way in the final quarter. Three times the home side were behind yet three times they fought back, their team spirit and never-say-die attitude eventually grinding out the win.
Three of our backs - Matt Gunasekera, Greg Watson and Stephen McKiernan - all reported in sick on the morning of the game although in fairness Richmond found themselves in the same situation. Scrum-half Will Crow was also feeling really lousy with the same symptoms, but was determined to give it his best shot for the cause, so great credit to him for seeing the whole game through.Our coaches were therefore forced into shuffling it all around, skipper Will Randall moving to centre to shore up the midfield with James Tapson taking his place in the back-row. John Yates and Dan Armitage were given starts on the wings.
Richmond kicked off and there was only a minute on the clock when they were awarded a scrum in Dorking territory. It was only then that someone realised that Richmond had 16 players on the pitch. Anyway when play restarted, after one of the opposition had taken his leave, I'm not sure whether our players were still bemused by it all or whether they had let their concentration slip but the Richmond scrum-half scooted off down the blind-side for a try in the corner. It might have been an interesting conversation if the extra player hadn't been noticed until after the score ! Anyhow, 0-5.
Dorking started to press from the restart and one or two chances went begging before prop David Nickerson, who was to be prominent all game with his direct running, ripped the ball from a maul and touched down from 5 metres or so out before the opposition could react. Jamie Phelan converted. 7-5.
Back again came Richmond and five minutes or so later another well-worked move from their put-in at a scrum saw us chasing shadows as we watched their No 8 touch down unopposed. Half-Time 7-10.
Although we had the slope in our favour in the second-half I still wasn't overly optimistic as Richmond were obviously a well-coached side with very talented players and a number of rehearsed plays and missed moves which kept us permanently on our toes. Their scrum was solid, delivered good clean ball and their play in the rucks and mauls was excellent, denying us any platform from which to build.
Dorking however were starting to take advantage of the slope. Full-back Jamie Phelan, whose kicking from hand was excellent all match, started to have an influence on the game with his kicking and counter-attacking. From one huge Jamie kick Dorking were awarded a penalty 5 metres out when Richmond killed the ball. From the tap the ball was passed to George Evans who headed straight for the heart of the Richmond pack standing on the try-line and crashed through the lot of them to touch down. 12-10.
If we had any illusions that we would now pull away playing with the advantage of the slope these were soon dispelled as back yet again came a valiant Richmond side for yet another excellent well-worked try. 12-15.
So, 10 minutes to go and losing, now was the time to stand up and be counted. Needless to say it was Nick Haigh who then took the game by the scruff of the neck, firstly picking up at the base of a scrum and sprinting over from some way out. 17-15.
Most of the pressure was now coming from the home-side. Richmond conceded a penalty right in front of the posts and Dorking elected to go for the three points, Jamie duly slotting it over. 20-15.
With the clock ticking down another monster punt from Jamie was vigorously chased by Will Randall as the ball sailed into the opposition 22 and bounced kindly in our favour towards the try-line. Will managed to collar the full-back, cleverly secure the ball and off-load to David Nickerson who arrived alongside in support. David looked for the support runner and there was Nick to receive the pass, beat two tacklers and touch down out wide for his second try and the game clinching score. This was the first time in the whole match that either side had ever been more than one score in front. Full-Time 25-15.
I thought that the Richmond players, coaches and parents alike were all first class today and I don’t think that we would have had too many complaints if Richmond had won the game. Like Rosslyn Park the previous week, it was that type of game that could have swung either way. We haven't played Richmond that often through the years, in fact I cannot recollect us ever having beaten them before, so this was an excellent victory and could turn out to be quite an important one in terms of the final league placings in Surrey 1.
We wish Richmond all the very best for the remainder of their campaign and look forward to meeting them again, when hopefully both sides will be at full strength, for what will no doubt be another cracking close fought encounter.
Another immense effort from the young men of Dorking. Only 14-10 down to the outstanding County Champions with 3 minutes left on the clock, having been encamped in their half for the previous 15 minutes or so, the thought actually crossed my mind that we could even sneak a winning try and pull off a memorable victory.
It was not to be though. Park finally managed to get the ball down our end of the field, scored in the corner and from the restart scored again immediately afterwards with what was just about the last play of the game. So, as against London Irish in our previous league game, we leaked two tries right at the death to leave a final score-line which if truth be told didn't do us justice and totally flattered the home side.
Captain Will Randall won the toss and elected to play up the slope in the first period with a view to trying to keep in touch with them until half-time. This gave Park the initiative from the kick-off though and they put us under immediate pressure. There were only 4 minutes on the clock when the home side opened the scoring under the posts and duly converted. 7-0.
The omens didn’t look good as we had held Irish for a lot longer than that. However a great restart kick from Jamie Phelan resulted in a ruck developing deep in Park territory and the home side were penalised for diving in. Instead of going for 3 points Dorking chose to run the ball and from the tap the ball was moved swiftly down the line to Matt Gunasekera who broke through the covering defence and scooted over for a superb try, Jamie converting. 7-7.
From the restart the home side pressed hard again. Immense tackling from Dorking held firm until Park finally breached our heroic defence 10 minutes later with another converted try. 14-7.
From the restart the pendulum swung back again Dorking's way and after a couple of minutes of pressure Park were again penalised. This time we elected to go for goal and Jamie duly slotted it over. 14-10.
So, 19 minutes gone and amazingly there the score remained, not only for the rest of the first half but also for just about all of the second half as two closely matched sides slugged it out.
Both teams enjoyed periods of territorial advantage without either seriously threatening to score until Dorking momentum started to drive the opposition back deep into their half. No matter how hard Dorking tried though outstanding Park defence kept them at bay.
With 3 minutes remaining a counter-attack from Park resulted in a try wide out on the right. 19-10. We let our heads drop and concentration slip as Park caught the restart kick, ran the ball straight back and 2 or 3 missed tackles later touched down under the posts. 26-10.
Overall our forwards matched a bigger pack today, winning two and losing two against the head. However Park continually put the shove on early which went un-penalised by the otherwise highly competent referee. They also continually dived through at the line-outs although the ref did eventually cotton on to that one and started penalising them accordingly.
As against Irish our tackling around the fringes was superb and as such their biggest lads were pretty much ineffective all game. Our backs however got sucked in on a few occasions which caused us problems out wide but superb covering tackling from backs and forwards alike saved the day whenever Park threatened.Again as with Irish, the Park coaches were extremely complimentary about us, which is obviously always good to hear from the best sides and we thank them for that.
So, we've played the best two sides in the county (and probably two of the best in the country) in back to back league matches but have certainly not been outclassed in either. All credit therefore to the young men of Dorking for two Herculean efforts.
The boys gave 110% but ultimately it wasn't quite good enough against an Irish side who, when their game plan didn’t work, had the ability to change tactics at half-time and switch the emphasis of their play from forwards to backs. This eventually proved to be decisive although it was only in the last few minutes that the game finally slipped away from Dorking.
The boys held Irish for just about all of the first half, in fact they more than matched them, then unfortunately conceded a fortuitous try right on the stroke of half-time. Even so, given some of their second-half performances in the past Dorking still had reason to remain hopeful at the break. However Irish, recognising their forwards were continually being thwarted by immense Dorking tackling, started to bring their backs into play more. This led to three more tries in the corners, although the last two only came right at the very end.Not unexpectedly most of the early pressure was from the home side and for the first 10 minutes Dorking were fighting a rearguard action. However solid defence meant that their try line was never really under serious threat as they dealt superbly with everything that Irish threw at them.
Dorking however gradually started to work their way up the park and actually spent the last 15 minutes of the half almost entirely in opposition territory. A couple of opportunities came and went including a sloppy knock-on following a 5 metre scrum but Dorking were more than holding their own and increasing in self-belief as the match progressed.
Any match against Irish wouldn't be the same without one of our boys ending up in hospital This time it was Alex Holmes with a neck injury. I am pleased to report though that he is OK, just a bit shaken and thankfully not as badly hurt as Callum was last seaon.
Anyhow, Irish took the lead right on half-time and this knocked the wind out of Dorking's sails a bit especially as it immediately followed Alex's nasty looking injury. A cross-kick from the fly-half looked to be well covered by Dorking, however a wicked bounce completely wrong-footed the covering defenders and fell invitingly into the hands of their right-winger who collected the ball at pace and ran in unopposed. I have to say though that our parents on the touch-line in line with play felt that at least two of the Irish back-line were way offside when the ball was kicked … well they would say that wouldn't they! Half-Time 7-0
So, half-time reached and what was particularly pleasing given the difference in pack sizes was that Dorking won all of their own scrums and had managed to take one against the head.
Unfortunately the breeze picked up big time in the second half and Dorking were the side facing it. Again though it was evenly balanced for 10 minutes or so until Irish won a scrum just inside their half, moved it sweetly down their back-line, creating the overlap and crossing over in the corner. 12-0.
Testosterone levels were starting to rise, things were getting a bit more feisty with the Irish handbags coming out and this led to a few confrontations around the park. Dorking however were not to be intimidated this time round and were determined to try and stay focused and stick to their game plan.
However errors and anxiety started to creep into their game as untidy ball squirted out of the scrum and they also started to lose scrums against the head as the sheer physical advantage of the Irish pack began to tell. That said Dorking were still under no great pressure as most of the play remained in and around midfield.
With 3 minutes remaining Dorking were awarded a scrum just inside their half. Will Crow however hesitated on the put-in, claiming the opposition had put the shove on early and the otherwise very competent referee awarded a free-kick, rather harshly we felt, for a delayed put-in. Anyhow from the free-kick Irish again ran the ball down the backs and created the overlap to score wide out on the left. 17-0.
With time running out heads started to drop and in the last minute another scrum just inside Dorking's half saw the Irish No 8 pick-up and head off down the blind-side, Dorking's concentration lapsed momentarily and a pass to the support runner enabled him to squeeze over right in the corner. The try was superbly converted. Final score 24-0.
Territorially Dorking had the better of the first half but Irish definitely had the edge in the second. They deserved to win and some of their inter-play was very good indeed. Our defeats to them in the semis in 2003 and in the quarters last year were mainly because of the physical difference between the two sides. This time though they defeated us by playing some excellent rugby, especially in the second-half, so all credit to them.
However I felt that all the luck going went against us today. To be honest we were never really under severe pressure at any stage and all their tries were scored from at least 30-40 metres out. Having said that we hardly threatened their line at all, especially in the second half.
You often learn more in defeat than in victory. We were lacking in one or two key areas today and we must look at that in advance of the other tough league matches to come. However, all in all, the boys can be very proud of their performance which was highly complimented on by the Irish coaches, parents and referee alike.
Effingham and Leatherhead 0 Dorking 17
We had 28 boys turn up for scheduled A and B fixtures against Effingham, including two new boys (Hamish and Jolyon). Effingham however only had 21 or 22 in attendance so it was decided to play 2 x 30 minute matches, the first match between each side's strongest XV.
Effingham kicked-off and had the advantage territorially for the first few minutes without ever threatening the Dorking line. Dorking however gradually worked their way down the field and once there literally spent the rest of the match encamped in the opposition half.
Dorking's first try, midway through the 30 minute period, resulted from a line-out close to the home side's try line, Nick Haigh pouncing on the loose ball to dive over. 5-0.
Immediately back on the offensive from the restart Dorking continued to press. A penalty was awarded and from the tap scrum-half Will Crow fed Will Randall who in turn off-loaded to Matt Gunasekera. Matt timed his pass to perfection to outside-centre James Gaymer and James scooted off round the outside, showing the opposition a clean pair of heels to touch down wide out on the right. 10-0.
Further pressure from Dorking resulted in a ruck developing in open play. Will Crow picked up at the base of the ruck and off-loaded to Will Randall, again alongside in support. Will dummied to pass out wide but feinted back inside to force his way over. Jamie Phelan converting. 17-0.
The second match of 30 minutes or so saw us swap it all around, bringing on all of the other 13 players in attendance and just leaving Nick and Sprecks on from the starting XV in the first match. As in a couple of matches in previous weeks however Effingham, with their smaller squad, only made 5 or 6 changes which left the majority of their A players on the pitch. Again this imbalance showed as the home side ran in two tries to race in to a 10-0 lead. Dorking then reintroduced Matt Gunasekera, Will Randall and Alex Holmes to balance it up a bit and there was no further score for the rest of the game. Our thanks to Effingham for hosting us and thanks also to all mums and dads and players for making the effort, well done everybody.
A fixture between Cranleigh A's and initially our development squad, the opposition quickly raced in to a 12-0 lead. We pulled one back late in the period through Matt Gunasekera, started to swap it around in the second half by playing a few of our league players, albeit out of position, but this still completely swung the balance our way. We ran in six more tries though Will Randall, Alex Holmes, George Evans, Nick Haigh (2) and James Gaymer before a consolation try from the opposition left the final score 39-17 (I think).
The concensus appears to be that it is proving virtually impossible to get the balance right in a lot of these roll-on, roll-off matches as we endeavour to find evenly matched opposition for our development squad in preparation for their entry in to the league next season. Hopefully some of the fixtures we have scheduled in the New Year will give them some evenly balanced competitive games against similar sides.
Another fixture similar to the one against Chipstead a few weeks ago whereby it was scheduled to be A and B matches only to find on the day that Guildford only had 21-22 players to our 27-28 or so.
So yet again we started with a side comprising almost entirely of non-league players against a side comprising of a lot of their A's and this showed as the home side dominated to score two unanswered tries and win the first period 12-0.
We then started rotating in the second period which balanced it up a bit and this eventually finished a 0-0 stalemate.
The third period saw us eventually get on to the scoresheet (after a few missed opportunities) with tries from Nick Haigh and Will Crow, both converted by Jamie Phelan. The home side came storming back though with a great try from their forwards immediately followed by a breakaway try ably assisted by several missed tackles, Dorking therefore winning the period 14-12, Guildford overall winners by 22-14.
There were a couple of unsavoury incidents in the game, one from each side, which occurred behind the referee's back but did not go unnoticed on the touchline which created a bit of agitation. All credit to Guildford though, their pack was one of the strongest we have come up against so far this season.
The U14s maintained their 100% start to their league campaign with their third win out of three, eventually over-running Esher at the Big Field on Sunday.
Although Esher had lost their first two league games we knew this to be misleading as they had run both Warlingham and county champions Rosslyn Park very close. Furthermore they had narrowly beaten us in our first ever league match last season and we knew them to be a strong, well-drilled side with talented individuals.
We were unfortunately missing Dan Hudson who, having turned in a fantastic performance for us last week, was unavailable, James Tapson therefore started at blind-side. Other than that we were pretty much at full strength.
Once again though we were slow out of the traps. Esher won the toss, kicked off and the play remained in Dorking's half and within three minutes the Esher right winger touched down out wide. 0-5.
Dorking came right back straight from the restart and a couple of minutes later Nick Haigh, who was to prove a thorn in the opposition side all day, picked up at the base of a ruck and having found an extra yard of pace from somewhere recently, sprinted in from 15 metres out. 5-5.
Even though we'd spoken before the game about how the Esher flyer had caught us cold last season that still didn't stop us suddenly leaving him in acres of space on the left. Almost inevitably he ran the ball in under the posts from the half way line, breaking through two tackles along the way. 5-12.
At this stage, with only 10 minutes gone, we knew that the next score would be pretty crucial with Esher threatening to be out of sight by half-time. However again, straight from the restart, Dorking pressed and a few minutes of pressure were finally rewarded when Nick Haigh again picked up at the base of a ruck and bundled over. 10-12.
The last 10 minutes or so of the period were spent almost entirely in Esher's half and although we were disappointed that our pressure had not been converted into more points we were pretty satisfied to turn round only 10-12 down given that we had the slope in our favour in the second-half.
It was important for us to try and score early on to put pressure on the opposition and this we did, again from a ruck. This time it was Dorking talisman George Evans picking up and forcing his way over, Fraser Macdonald converting. 17-12.
Our destiny was now in our own hands, in front for the first time in the game, playing with the slope and over 20 minutes to go. Yet again the boys did not disappoint and to be honest Esher hardly got out of their half for the rest of the game.
It was the turn of the backs to get in on the act next, the ball being played down the line to the wing where centre James Gaymer looped round the outside to create the overlap, take the final pass and squeeze over right in the corner for another excellent team try. 22-12
Dorking were rampant now. David Nickerson peeled off from a maul, drove forward and off-loaded to captain Will Randall who ran in uncontested to score and in doing so maintained his superb record of having scored in every league match he has played in over the last two seasons. 27-12.
With the game now entirely in Esher's half other try scoring chances went begging as a result of misplaced final passes, the ball carrier not off-loading to the support runners or heroic tackling from a couple of the Esher players. However another score seemed almost inevitable and it finally came when the ball was again spun down the backs for Stephen McKiernan to touch down in the corner. 32-12.
So, not for the first time, 20+ unanswered points in the second half. Yet again the forwards were the platform for our success and even though the Esher scrum was strong and delivered good clean ball, hooker George Spreckley still managed to win five or six against the head.
Last week our ball carriers were getting isolated so we talked about that and as a result our support play was superb which always gave the ball carrier options, a fact that was highly complimented on by the Esher coaches. Having said that the ball carriers themselves still must become more aware of those support runners and chances were lost because on too many occasions they chose to ignore their team-mates alongside.
The match itself was played in a great spirit and was again a fine advertisement for Youth Rugby in Surrey. Esher were missing a couple of their key players through injury and unavailability but they were very magnanimous and complimentary in defeat and did not offer that as an excuse. As such they will be a stronger outfit in the New Year and should comfortably survive despite their slow start, we sincerely hope they do because our games are always keenly fought cracking encounters. We wish them well for the remainder of their campaign.
I think it was Andy Warhol who one said that everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes. Well, having been joint top of Division 1 since our last league game four weeks ago, our boys can now be famous for another six weeks until our next one. The most rewarding thing about it all though is that it is basically the same nucleus of boys that have been with us for years, the same group of boys who experienced the not so good times when they were Minis but have progressed through sheer hard work and dedication. We have not actively "recruited" one player, but have focused instead on engendering team spirit and drumming in the basics and the benefits are now there for all to see.
Normal service was resumed today with a comprehensive display against visiting opposition from Kent.
Our visitors must have thought we were there for the taking as we were once again slow off the blocks. Medway totally dominated the opening exchanges and showed that they are a well-drilled side with some well executed pre-planned moves from set-pieces which had us chasing shadows for a while. The opposition pressure finally deservedly paid off after 10 minutes with a try from their right wing. 0-5.
Our boys don’t generally need many wake-up calls these days but with Geoff refereeing it was left to Jim to deliver one of his legendary rollockings as the players huddled under the posts waiting for the conversion.
This had the desired effect, the boys were galvanised and the transition was immediately obvious as Dorking tore in to the opposition straight from the restart. Thereafter for the rest of the match they overwhelmed Medway with a performance right out of the top drawer.
We soon pulled level, the ball being moved slickly down the backs to Greg Watson whose speed took him round the outside of the opposition winger and full-back to touch down out wide. 5-5.
Next it was the turn of the forwards to get in on the act, a powerful drive ending with George Evans touching down to maintain his impressive try scoring ratio. 10-5.
A blind-side break by Will Randall saw him draw the man and off-load to Dan Hudson who was alongside in support. Dan, who was to prove by the end of the game that he is back to his imperious best, did the same which created the overlap for Will Crow to score for the umpteenth consecutive week, Jamie converting 17-5. Half-time.
Now brimming with confidence the boys totally dominated the second-half against shell-shocked opponents. Five tries were scored, each the result of excellent passages of play and superb ball handling given the wet, muddy conditions.
David Nickerson, who had a barnstorming match and who was prominent all game, scored the next one, showing terrific pace for a front row forward 22-5. Next up on the scoresheet was Stephen McKiernan, as he finished off a move of several phases, with Will Randall and Dan Hudson again brilliantly combining to create the opening. 27-5.
Nick Haigh's persistence was finally rewarded when he deservedly touched down, again after great interplay between the forwards 32-5. Will Crow scored his second of the day with a 30 metre blind side break following superb play from George Evans who showed great strength and vision in ripping the ball out of a maul and spotting the blind side opportunity 37-5.
Dan Hudson finished it all off, again after pace and excellent ball handling had ripped a dejected defence to pieces. Dan could afford to ignore the four man overlap outside him to touch down, Jamie converting 44-5.
The general concensus afterwards from the opposition and from the large crowd, many of whom were watching the boys and U14 rugby for the first time, was that some of their play today was absolutely superb and a joy to watch, even more so given the conditions. There still remains some areas though where we need to improve as we started slowly and our ball carriers need to look for the support runners more. Having said that we are often labelled as a good side simply because we have a strong pack, so it was fantastic to see the pace all round the park today even when we were without our quickest boy who was out injured.
Our back row were electric today, our second row everywhere and the front row prominent and influential in open play. Our half backs were incisive, our centres, wings and full-back all confident and solid in defence
In summary then, an excellent all round fifteen man team effort today but with some outstanding individual perfomances also.
Also, for the first time ever, we managed to put out two totally separate sides today with our other side hosting Marlow U14 BXV. The opposition deservedly won 14-0 as they had a lot of territorial advantage but there were a lot of positives to come out of the performances of our boys and lots for the coaches to work on especially in the area of fitness. A lot of them from non rugby playing schools are only used to rolling on rolling off friendly matches so the full 50 minutes was a bit of a culture shock to some today! .
Anyhow, one more new lad today with a couple more looking to join apparently, so everything is progressing in the right direction with the objective of two sides in league rugby next season.
Another opportunity, in between league games, to give all of the squad a decent run-out, this time against Division 1 opposition.
It turned out to be a thoroughly miserable day all round really, freezing cold, soaking wet, muddy pitch, even muddier everywhere else and worst of all the bar even ran out of beer!
Amazingly, given the weather, we had 28 boys turn up (including two new ones, Anthony and Marcus) although some of them didn't seem overly enthusiastic. Encouragingly though we were able to start the match off with a XV that didn't include one player from our league side a couple of weeks back.
Chipstead unfortunately operate on a much smaller squad, so had little alternative other than to start with a lot of their A players. As such the first period, which was 30 minutes, proved to be the defining period of the game with the majority of play in Dorking's half and the home side scoring two unanswered tries, converting one.
The second and third periods were much shorter (20 minutes and 15 minutes) and we started to rotate everyone around to ensure that all the players got more muddier than their parents.
Territorially we spent just about the whole of the two periods encamped in Chipstead's half but we found it hard to get any continuity. Chipstead were really fired up for this one (probably something to do with us thumping them in the league last year) and they put up a spirited resistance to our pressure and to their credit defended with great tenacity and commitment. Anyway, both periods finished 5-5 I think, with Nick Haigh scoring both of our tries.
Chipstead's tries were both long range efforts, the second one I remember being as a result of about 4 consecutive half-hearted missed tackles from Dorking.
Given the conditions it should have been stick it up your jumper rugby from Dorking today and to their credit our forwards did try their best. However whenever the ball went out to the backs, despite some sniping runs from the continually impressive Will Crow, they tried to throw it around with wild abandon and we just ended up losing it in open play or at the breakdown. The very narrow pitch stifled us and we also suffered from a lack of cohesion and little or no penetration.
So, not too many positives to come out of it all, apart from our continuing increase in numbers. Jon Yates came in to play all three periods at full-back, had to collect numerous desperate punts out of defence from Chipstead and didn't knock-on the wet ball once. David Nickerson also impressed once again, the Chipstead coach complimenting "that ginger-haired chap".
Generally a day to forget then although hopefully a lesson learnt as the boys will need to raise it a few levels to compete with some of the quality teams coming up both in the league and in friendlies.
Cobham 5 Dorking 24
I described our first first league win over Effingham a few weeks back as 'workmanlike'. Well, our second league game and second league victory was certainly a few notches up by comparison and not far off the 'awesome' category.
Already without Matt Gunasekera we were hit on the morning of the match with withdrawals from Daniel Hudson and Stephen McKiernan, forcing Geoff to improvise and make a number of last minute changes. Ben Collis came in on the wing, skipper Will Randall returned from his operation and moved from his normal position of open-side to inside centre. In the pack George Evans moved to blind-side, James Tapson to open-side and David Nickerson to prop.
So, although far from a makeshift side, a hastily re-organised one and we weren't particularly confident given the fact that Cobham had won their first two league matches and were sitting pretty on top of the league.
The first half was tight and evenly balanced but with plenty of action at both ends. Dorking had most of the initial pressure, Cobham clawed their way back into it but it was the away side that eventually broke the deadlock late in the half. A ruck developed in open-play 10 metres from Cobham's line with the home side in possession, but a huge effort from the Dorking pack managed to overturn the ball. Scrum-half Will Crow collected and drove towards the line supported by the pack. Will cleverly managed to retain possession of the ball to ground it for the opening try. I have to say though that there appeared to be a hint of a knock-on when the ball was first collected at the back of the ruck which went unspotted by the referee (which goes some way to balancing out the "unsighted" tries we had disallowed the other week). Fullback Jamie Phelan was successful with the conversion. 0-7.
Any elation at scoring soon disappeared though when Jamie appeared to get badly injured when making a great tackle on Cobham's large inside-centre, although I'm pleased to report that later diagnosis was no more than severe bruising. Half-Time 0-7.
Jamie was obviously unable to continue in the second-half so we had to reorganise even further with John Yates coming on as replacement. Now missing four key players we thought we'd really be under the cosh in the second-half and sure enough Cobham came flying out of the traps and pressed very hard right from the restart. Only resolute defending kept them out.
After a few minutes on the back foot we gradually worked our way back up the field. Following a line-out out on the right some more superb ball retention and driving from the forwards resulted in George Evans crashing over. 0-12.
Growing in confidence the heavier Dorking pack were now starting to dominate leaving Cobham little option other than to continue to try and throw the ball wide at every opportunity. Their tactics were simple, either trying to get their inside-centre through on the crash-ball or get the ball out wider to their speedy wingers. However Dorking's backs were alert to this threat from the first minute and closed them down superbly all day with the centres even finding time to release Greg Watson on some sniping runs.
More pressure from the away side saw Nick Haigh rip the ball free from a maul, off-load to George Evans who in turn fed Will Randall who was alongside in support. Will, who only seconds earlier had been flattened by a very late tackle from the Cobham inside-centre which went un-penalised by the referee, got his own back in the best possible way, Fraser Macdonald converting. 0-19.
Soon afterwards a scrum midway in Cobham's half out on the right saw Will Crow pick up and scoot off down the blind-side. Will faked a pass out to the right, wrong-footing the opposition left-winger in the process and sprinted home unopposed for a marvellous individual try in the corner, his second of the match. 0-24.
With only five minutes remaining the game was won but to their great credit Cobham did not give up for one second and might have had at least one try before finally being rewarded with a score wide out on the left. Full-Time 5-24.
Although we deserved to win the final score-line probably flattered us but we took our chances and prevented Cobham from taking theirs. Everybody played very very well today, the competition for places in the league starting line-up is hotting up and one more win somewhere should be more than sufficient to retain our position in the elite league next season which was our objective at the start.
Match 1 - Horsham 0 Dorking 22
Match 2 - Pulborough 0 Dorking 24
A triangular tournament which give all squad players the opportunity to impress in between league fixtures.
Although I've been to Horsham a couple of times previously I still managed to get lost but still arrived in plenty of time to be pleasantly surprised to find we had 22 boys in attendance which isn’t bad for an away fixture in half term, so well done mums, dads and players.
The format for the day was round-robin with three matches of much shortened duration.
We started off against the hosts with a team almost entirely comprising of boys new to rugby this year or those new to the club or those who missed out on our first league match a couple of weeks ago, although Geoff did start to rotate the players later on.
Conditions were very heavy, there was a big slope on the pitch yet everyone adapted very well in a solid all-round performance which epitomised the strength in depth we now have with cover in most positions.
Three tries to the good playing down the slope in first half, we only managed one more in the second although it was difficult to get any continuity as Geoff was keen to ensure that everyone who had made the effort to attend got a decent run-out, albeit in unfamiliar positions. Sprecks showing his blinding pace hunting down the opposition fly-half from flanker made the journey worthwhile in itself, Jamie Phelan blind-side, Will Crow outside-centre, Will Randall then Sprecks at No 8 ! Imaginative coaching I call it. Anyway, try scorers - Arif Dogansoy, Greg Watson, Jamie Phelan and Will Crow with one conversion from Jamie.
The second match against Pulborough was a one-half 25 minute affair which we played entirely up the slope. We kicked off with just about the same starting line-up as we did in the first game but again swapped it around as we went along. Some great play from the forwards and some real flair in the backs culminated in another four tries to nil win, with this time George Evans, Ben May, David Nickerson and Alex Holmes getting their names on the score-sheet. Jamie Phelan and Jon Yates converting one each.
So all in all a very worthwhile exercise. A special mention for the new recruits - Daniel Brown, David Gallimore, Josh Hudson, Jon Stephens, Michael Taylor and Jon Yates. Eight tries scored none conceded and our line wasn't really under threat in either match. Again though, eight different try scorers which is a real positive to take away from it all and gives us a few options for future matches especially when we have boys unavailable.
Anyway our thanks to Horsham, thoroughly enjoyed it in the clubhouse afterwards as did the boys. Thanks also to Alan for organising it all and for refereeing both of our games and I must say, doing it very well. It's always refreshing (albeit rare) when the boys play away these days for them to get a fair rub of the green, even in friendlies let alone league games.
Dorking 12 Effingham and Leatherhead 5
The U14's kicked off their league campaign amongst the elite of Surrey Division 1 with a workmanlike rather than impressive victory against local friends and rivals Effingham and Leatherhead at The Big Field.
Having got rather comfortable and fat watching some of the spectacular performances of expansive rugby against lesser opposition last season this was a somewhat disappointing performance by comparison and hopefully a wake-up call to all concerned. However both sides have grown up alongside each other over the years, playing each other many times as well as playing in the same school sides and as such have got to know each other's players and their strengths and weaknesses inside out as a consequence.
E&L came with a game plan, focusing on nullifying Dorking's strengths and key players, which they executed effectively and admirably. Although they were sufficiently fired up Dorking were short of AXV match practice, over-anxious and unable to improvise when Plan A didn't work. It was their sheer persistence and effort that won through in the end.
Apart from last season's inspirational captain Will Randall (still recovering from his op), Dorking were pretty much at full strength, although following early season training the coaches had tinkered with a few positions in the pack.
The first half was pretty evenly balanced, with maybe Dorking just shading it territorially. Over anxiety wasted a couple of chances before the breakthrough came midway through the half. A 5 metre scrum saw No 8 Nick Haigh, who up until then had been well marshalled by the opposition defence, pick up at the base of the scrum, twist, turn and crash over. Fullback Jamie Phelan converted from a difficult angle. 7-0
E&L immediately came back strongly and enjoyed their best period of the game. Persistent infringements by Dorking saw the opposition get ever closer to the try line until one of their big lads finally forced his way over. A straightforward conversion was missed however. Half-Time 7-5.
The second half was pretty much one-way traffic with Dorking encamped in the opposition half and only the very occasional (one, if I remember correctly) foray upfield by E&L. It just became a match of attrition, Dorking with static backs and generally devoid of ideas against E&L defending magnificently. Dorking contrived to miss a straightforward three-pointer but the crucial breakthrough came shortly afterwards. The home side won the ball at either a lineout or scrum 15 metres or so out (can't remember) and George Evans made a charge for the line. When Dorking talisman George gets up a head of steam from not too far out, regardless of how many defenders are in front of him, somehow you know there is always only ever going to be one outcome. We again however contrived to miss a reasonably straightforward conversion. 12-5.
The last 10 minutes or so saw Dorking totally dominating, spending all of that time on or around the opposition try-line. In fact we amazingly managed to cross the opposition line a further four times, only even more amazingly to be called back each time, twice when the referee was unfortunately unsighted.
So, not pretty, but as they say, a win is a win. Loads for Geoff, Jim and Co to work on and for Armand to get his teeth into, as we will need to improve considerably, as there will be no easy matches at this level. As always our best wishes to E&L for the rest of their campaign.
Dorking 47 Chobham 19
A hastily arranged friendly fixture, primarily because Chobham had been let down elsewhere, to give both sides the opportunity of a run-out before our respective first league games.
With the usual friendly format of four quarters Dorking took the opportunity to continually rotate their side, giving all 25-26 boys on duty at least two quarters each.
As with the corresponding fixture last season our chaps were initially given a master-class in rucking and mauling by their will-drilled opponents. However as the game progressed Dorking took control, ultimately running out comfortable winners by seven tries to three.
One of the biggest positives to come out of the game was that there were seven individual try scorers, proving once again that any number of the boys can run in tries and from anywhere on the pitch. Stephen McKiernan, Jamie Phelan, Will Crow, David Nickerson, Alex Holmes, James Gaymer and Dan Hudson were the scorers in question. Jamie was again immense with his kicking, successfully converting five out of six.
All in all an invaluable work-out, our thanks to Chobham for approaching us and we wish them well for their league campaign which will hopefully see them gain promotion.