Westcombe Park 12 – 22 Dorking
By Kevin Beal
Barker’s Brace Carries the Day
Dorking travelled the short distance around the M25 to a cold, windy and subsequently wet Goddington Dene for one of the deciding games of the weekend in National 2 East as 4th in the league played 5th. And if this wasn’t enough, with one set of the WP 1st team posts succumbing to the ravages or Mr Jack Frost midweek, the match was moved to one of the smaller pitches (a blessing in disguise for the spectators as it was significantly closer to the warmth of the clubhouse), and this combined with the elements made for a tight, entertaining but occasionally frustrating game.
Dorking kicked off playing with the wind and the slope, and were on the scoreboard inside of six minutes as after the preliminary opening skirmishes Harry Barker intercepted a pass meant for his opposite number for a quick canter to the line in the right hand corner. With Tom Hardwick’s conversion shaving the inside of the right post – it looked to all that it was just wide but the men with the flags and Sir felt otherwise, the visitors were 0-7 up. But not for long as WP kicked long, won a penalty and 5m lineout from where Marc Muhleman was shunted over to make it 5-7; the conversion into the wind falling both short and wide.
The now obligatory aerial ping-pong ensued with WP finally getting a line out on half way, which was promptly knocked on for a Dorking scrum, scrum penalty, lineout and an off the top ball for Tom Bloomer to take on the peel and charge upfield to win another penalty. Taking advantage of the wind, Hardwick put the ball into the corner from where Dorking attacked with a series of pick and drives and then spun the ball down the line through Max Coyle, Sam Blade on to Harry Barker, over for his second out wide. No such luck with the conversion for Hardwick which this time was definitely whipped wide by the wind. 5-12.
WP retained their restart kick and their pack moved the ball into the midfield, where a turnover ruck gave Tom Hardwick a chance to show his pace, breaking clear of the WP defence until he was hauled down illegally by a high tackle. From the penalty, he put the ball in touch on the WP 5m line and a perfect catch and drive released Nick Barry to score just to the left of the posts; an easy conversion for Hardwick to extend the lead to 5-19. But again WP responded immediately with a try by scrum half Mikel Davies, who following a WP penalty, lineout and a succession of pick & goes bamboozled the Dorking defence to cross the tryline untouched. With Max Brown’s conversion good the gap narrowed to 12-19. Which despite considerable Dorking pressure in all phases – set piece scrums, loose play, lineouts, red zone clearances, interceptions (Harry Barker again), a mammoth Coyle 50-22 plus several penalties, is how it remained until half time.
Punctuated by scrums, penalties and lineouts the second half, as the wind strengthened and the rain began to fall was definitely one for the purists as both sides, still looking to play expansive rugby struggled to maintain a grip on the ball. This was not to say that it wasn’t entertaining or full of endeavour, there were just so few scoring opportunities. Dorking had the better of the exchanges and possession but were unable to capitalise on this as the home side disrupted their game with strong defence at key moments, and as Dorking had done in the first half, use the wind to great effect to clear their lines, forcing the visitors to re-group and start again deep in their own half. Indeed there were several instances where it looked like the WP back line were in the clear to level the scores, only for the ball to go to ground, forwards or over the dead ball line. Meat and drink to the now dominant Dorking pack with the scrum put in, but from which they were unable to capitalise.
With both sides’ lineouts disrupted by the wind they became something of a lottery; short balls becoming the order of the day as the longer throws became more difficult to win cleanly. Jumpers Will Scholes, Dom Sammut and Jasper King all had moments of glory bursting through the line and latching on to loose opposition ball but frustratingly for them the WP defence was equal to the task and stalemate ensued. Similarly, the WP jumpers Fergus Chawner and Sam Fombo disrupted the Dorking throw, but in the main Dorking were able to retain possession, albeit not a swiftly or as cleanly as planned as they sought in vain for the bonus point try.
And so it was until the final minute of the match where after awarding Dorking a penalty, Sir caught something in his eye and needed to go off for treatment, being replaced by AR 1 who looked on as Tom Hardwick sensibly opted for a shot at goal ensuring victory, before he blew for the end of the match.
Final score 12-22
Director of Rugby Armand Roux commented:
“I’m really pleased to come away with a good win today.
The conditions was very challenging and the pitch width was below National League regulation. (We both agreed to continue) Therefore, the win was a well-earned one.
We knew it will be an arm wrestle of a game and our Pack was certainly our differentiating factor at scrum time. Harry Barker took his opportunities early and we then played most of our Rugby in Westcombe Park’s Half.
We know we were not clinical in the Red Zone today and probably cost us a Bonus point if we are honest with ourselves, but getting the win was the priority with all things considered.
Credit to the both sets of players, the officials and Westcombe Park for making sure the game continues"
Teams:
Westcombe Park – Daniel, Hook, Minns, Braithwaite, Gross-Lambourne, Brown, davies, Muhlemann, Harris, Roofe, Chawner, Fombo, Devine, Rufai, Cook ©. Replacements – Mundicha, Khalil, Dutta, Wagstaff, Fryatt
Dorking- Coyle, Barker, Hotston, Blade, Williamson, Hardwick, Baldwin, Bristow, Head, Barry, Sammut, King, Bloomer, Howorth, Bloomer, Scholes ©. Replacements – Rawlinson, Connor, Goodfellow, Bird, Falloon
Man of the Match: Tom Bloomer
Referee: Mr Simon Waite
