Dorking 36 – 7 Oxford Harlequins
By Kevin Beal
A blistering first half performance was enough to see Dorking take the inaugural League fixture between these two clubs as the Red & Whites power up front proved too much for Quins to handle.
Opting to receive the ball and play downhill, the Red & Whites were on the score sheet after barely five minutes play as Tom Golder broke off the back of a maul on the half way line, shrugged off several tackles and slipped the ball to the supporting Tom Bloomer, who was over the line untouched to the left of the posts. With Henry Anscombe away on a short break, the kicking duties fell to Craig Holland who managed to find the post, denying the conversion making the score 5-0.
Quins kicked off long, straight to Captain Jasper King who set off on one of his now trademark runs, offloading the ball to Tom Howe who slipped the ball wide through the backline to Max Coyle who touched down, only to be called back for a knock on. Dorking, not for the first time turned the ball over in the resulting Quins set piece scrum but were unable to capitalise as strong Quins defence drew a penalty enabling them to clear their lines to half way. The curse of the High Tackle then struck as Dorking’s defensive line gave away a couple of penalties, but they retained the ball as Quins knocked on as they mounted an attack in the midfield. Ollie Rawlinson and Tom Howe in particular were taking the game to Quins, and with Jasper King, Tom Golder and Tom Bloomer in support were creating space and overlap opportunities out wide. The line out was functioning well and the try line beckoned for Toby McRae as a quick ball off the top was spun down the line, only for Sir to call a forward pass. No matter, as in the next phase of play Max Coyle was released down the right wing to slip over the line in the corner. With Holland’s conversion from the touchline good, Dorking had a deserved 12-0 lead.
This seemed to spur Quins on and from the kick off, again long, they pressured the Dorking line, eventually drawing a penalty which was kicked to the corner. A catch and drive in the lineout released prop Fin Boarder who spun off the side of the driving maul to touch down. 12-5, and with Ewan Fox’s conversion good, 12-7.
Dorking’s response was swift. Kicking long, they took play deep into the Quins 22, forced a penalty and from the line out, Tom Howe, who had looked threatening all afternoon took the ball on the burst and forced his way over for Dorking’s third, unconverted try. 17-7. And returning the kick off and forcing a scrum on the Quins 22, Jasper King picked up from the base of the scrum and determinedly forced his way past two defenders to the line for the bonus point try, converted by Holland. 24-7 at half time.
Starting the second half, kicking uphill it looked as if it would be more of the same with Tom Howe adding his second making the score 29-7 within five minutes as the home side threatened to run away with the game. But Quins had other ideas and robust defence, somewhat missing in the first half combined with aggressive counter rucking and, it has to be said some unforced Dorking handling errors led to a far more even second half. Dorking’s defence was made to work hard as Quins found their rhythm, forcing turnovers and penalties and disrupting the Dorking plays. They were additionally unlucky not to score on several occasion as they recycled the ball through both forwards and backs, and the half wore on the match became somewhat of a stalemate.
But in truth Dorking’s defensive line held firm and they never looked like relinquishing their lead. In the final move of the game Max Coyle, who hadn’t had a sniff of the ball on the wing in the second half, moved to the centre, collected the ball in midfield on the halfway line and outsprinted the tiring Quins defence to touch down under the posts for his second of the afternoon, converted by Holland at the final whistle. 36-7 final score.
DoR Armand Roux commented:
“Getting the 5 points was our goal and that is exactly what we achieved.
Quins challenged us in every aspect and with the heavens opening at the start of the game, we knew we needed to be efficient with most parts of our game.
It was not the prettiest of games that we have been accustomed to but with conditions pleased we got the job done
I also need to mention that the support was amaing today. Thank you.”
Teams:
Dorking:
Andresen, Coyle, Howe, Holland, McRae, Hardwick, Jackson, Birch, Rawlinson, Connor, Golder, Howorth, Chambers, Bloomer, King (c). Replacements - Watson, Karimanzira, Norwood, Hotston, Baldwin
Oxford Harlequins:
Cooke, Ross, Van Dyke, Field, Haines, Hammond, Fox, Burns, Smith, Roberts, Hopkins, Rasousou, Todd, Paine, Ireland, Bicknell (c). Replacements - Nicholls, Boarder, Cassidy, Jenkins, O’Regan
Star Man – Daragh Chambers (Dorking)
Referee: Mr Tom Bird
Scores:
Dorking:
Tries- Bloomer 5, Coyle 20 & 80, Howe 31& 47, King 35
Conversions- Holland 21, 36, 80
Attendance: 517
