Dorking RFC

Dorking 17 – 10 London Welsh

By Kevin Beal

Dorking made to battle hard in season opener

For the first time in living memory certainly, and in history maybe, the London Welsh 1^st XV played Dorking 1^st XV at The Big Field. Fittingly it was a tough contest, one where play was mainly concentrated between the respective 22m lines, and one deserving of that old cliché ‘a game of two halves’ where the scoring went with the slope. Playing downhill in the first half, Dorking took a 17 – 0 lead into the changing rooms at half time, and but for a couple of stray passes it could well have been more, but it was a combative London Welsh side who took the spoils in the second half, and as the clock wound down the home side and supporters were relieved to hear the final whistle.

Dorking were the more clinical in the first half and following some fine backline interplay and a long wide pass down the line were in front after four minutes as Tom Hardwick crossed the line under the posts. Converting his own try he put the home side 7-0 up. Dorking were back on the attack at the restart as Harry Elbrow fielded the ball and George Jackson punted the ball back into the London Welsh half for a lineout. It was now Dorking’s turn to defend as the visitor’s pack started to rumble up the pitch and release their backs. Fine defence lead by man of the match Steve Howorth and George Head kept them honest, and an intercept by Captain Will Scholes bounced agonisingly out of his grasp with nary a defender in sight. A couple of scrum collapses and resets saw Dorking awarded a free kick, which was quickly taken by Harry Elbrow and shipped to Tom Howe, who evaded several flailing tackles to put newcomer Charlie Reynolds-West in under the posts. With a simple conversion for Tom Hardwick Dorking were 14-0 up and looking set fair with just fourteen minutes played.

London Welsh dug deep and began to string together some moves of their own, but it would be fair to say that every thrust was met with a counter thrust from the Dorking defence, and following a sniping run from Charlie RW, the Welsh defence were penalised well within range of Hardwick’s boot taking the lead to 17 points.  Again the Welsh came back hard with their back row trio of Jac Welsh, Rhydian George and Hywel Williams leading the charge, and messrs Bloomer, Scholes and Elbrow barring their way. A turnover ball on the halfway line saw the ball pass through the hands of the ‘Three Toms’ – Bloomer, Hardwick & Howe and a Dorking penalty for a high tackle. With the ball punted to the corner a textbook catch & drive was anticipated, but sadly a mix up allowed London Welsh’s lineout lighthouses to snaffle the ball for Captain Hodgeson to clear. A further penalty this time on the other side of the pitch saw another Dorking 5m lineout, taken quickly off the top for the omnipresent Bloomer to drive over the line for no try, being adjudged held up. There was time enough left for Welsh to clear their lines and move upfield where Dom Sammut turned over the ball and George Jackson called an end to the half with a kick to touch. A comfortable 17 point half time cushion, albeit with the prospect of playing uphill in the second half.

The Welsh kick-off did not go to plan with the ball going straight into touch, but from thereon in their game plan clicked and playing downhill their rejuvenated forwards, with ball in hand put Dorking under pressure for long periods of the half, requiring strong defence to keep them out. This however came at a price, and two successive yellow cards, one for a deliberate knock on and another for offside in the red zone saw Dorking down to 13 men.  With the Welsh forwards tilting at the line at every opportunity it was only a matter of time before the inevitable try came as wing Harri Long found himself unmarked and in acres of space to cross in the left hand corner. With Hodgeson’s conversion drifting wide it was 17-5 and Welsh tails were up.

Keeping possession and denying ball to Dorking they continued to press, however the Dorking defence held firm. Having won a scrum penalty, the visitors sensed that they might have the upper hand in the set piece and opted time and again to take a scrum rather than kick for goal or touch. As a result the game rather lost momentum, but it was the Welsh who had both territory and possession testing the Dorking resolve. Despite a yellow card of their own they were able, as the clock ticked into the 70^th minute to add to their tally as Jordan Dyer barrelled over from short distance to make it 17-10, with the conversion missed.

With the clock showing 45 minutes played, there was still time enough for a Dorking penalty from out wide to shave the wrong side of the posts, and for the Welsh to further press the Dorking line from the 22 drop out. But after further strong Dorking defence and penalty kick to touch, their pack were able to march up field and with time called, hoof the ball into touch to end the game and claim the win.

Thank you to our Spotlight Sponsor Stonebridge Group

DoR Armand Roux Commented:

“It was certainly good to get our season campaign off the mark today. At half time, we probably felt we should be targeting a bonus point win , but all the momentum was with Welsh in the second half, so a four point win will do.

London Welsh certainly had something about the way they want to play and if they can adapt to the Level will certainly be challenging teams so want to make sure to congratulate them with their performance yesterday.

Couple of standout performances our end but most of all pleased that our Defensive attitude was at the races today.

Next up is Guernsey away so quick turn around and we are off to what will be our next big challenge”

Teams:

Dorking:
Reynolds-West, Sanders, Howe, Powell, Hardwick, Williamson, Jackson, Connor, Head, Barry, Howorth, Sammut, Scholes (C), Bloomer, Elbrow. Replacements - Watson, Stephenson, Hole, Chambers, Falloon

London Welsh:
Mcavoy, Lang, Bodily, Manley, Dunne, Hodgeson (C), Williams, Black, Blackmore, McKenna, Ogden, Cousins, Welsh, George, Davies, Replacements- Dyer, Lambert-Griffiths, Breeze, Ham, Gulley

Referee; Mr Phil Russell

Star Man – Steve Howorth (Dorking)

Scores

Dorking:

Tries  - Hardwick 4, Reynolds-West 14

Conversions – Hardwick 5, 15

Pen – Hardwick 26

London Welsh

Tries – Long 54, Dyer 75


Match Day Photo's - Dorking Camera Club