Dorking vs Old Reigatians Match Report – 9-10-22
Dorking Colts were on the road again on Sunday, although this time making the short journey to neighbours Old Reigatians. This game was sandwiched in between two Waterfall Cup games (a competition the hosts had withdrawn from) so Dorking took the opportunity to rotate the squad, changing the entire pack and substitutes from last week and making a number of changes to the backline.
Dorking started brightly with the advantage of both sun and wind. ORs, fielding a stronger than expected team, were competing hard at the breakdown in a very physical encounter. Unfortunately Dorking soon picked up the first of their injuries with Scott Bloomfield and Thomas York forced off following a head knock and a hamstring tear respectively.
This did not unsettle the Dorking pack who putting increasing pressure on the ORs set piece. From a scrum, ORs tried to clear their lines but the kick went straight to Charlie Nichol, who dotted down under the posts. 7-0
ORs came back strongly. A Dorking infringement saw a kick to the corner and the ORs pack surged over from the resulting line out. 7-5
The game was really starting to flow now. From a dominant Dorking scrum, the ball squirted out the side. Although ORs reacted quickest, captain Callum Powell re-gathered the ball and broke the line to score under the posts. 14-5
Dorking were then dealt another injury blow, with Craig Sheffield forced off with a nasty shoulder injury. With no replacement scrum half Dorking were forced to reshuffle the back line again. ORs made the most of this and following a chip and chase scored under the to make it 14-12.
The game continued to see-saw and quick thinking by Callum Powell from a penalty saw him tap and go out wide to score Dorking’s third try of the half. Toby Winslett hit the post with the conversion to leave Dorking leading 19-12 at the break.
ORs started to gain the upper hand in the second half, relying on the unfamiliarity of the Dorking combinations in the forwards and backs. Following a missed tackle, ORs broke the line to score under the posts, although there were some doubts about the grounding. 19-19
ORs twice breached the Dorking line out wide to build a heathy 31-19 lead but Dorking were not done yet. With almost a carbon copy try from last week, captain Powell broke from the ORs 10-minute line and sailed through for a score under the posts. 31-26
Dorking fielded the restart and began to force their way back into the ORs half but following an ORs knock on out wide, the whistle blew and Dorking had come up just short.
This was a commendable performance from Dorking. Despite considerable adversity on the pitch and resting some key players for next week, Dorking pushed their hosts all the way and should probably have come away with the win. The one-squad ethos was great to see, with competition across the group for places in next week’s cup team.
