National 2 East – Nov 15, 2025
Dorking 45 – 17 Sevenoaks
By Paul Mosley
Dorking turned up the heat in the second half to ease away from a spirited Sevenoaks side in a seven-try victory and a third on the trot.
Sevenoaks, when given ball and opportunity, are a dangerous side but Dorking’s big pack were quick to established control and provided a sound platform for the win. The performance was also notable for another consistent team display and an absence of yellow cards.
On four minutes, prop Nick Barry rumbled over from a textbook catch and drive out wide before former Oaks’ winger Harry Barker dived through to touch down in the corner on 11 mins, latching on to a clever Max Coyle grubber to split the defence. 10-0 and purring, with only the slight worry of centre Tom Howe limping off as a precaution to be replaced by Calleb Falloon.
The red and whites were in control, but Oaks were back in contention when fly half Ben Adams dribbled through our defence for a try under the posts which he converted for 10-7.
With tails up, Oaks’ enjoyed a period of possession playing up the hill but found no way through the resilient Dorking defence, currently proving the meanest in National 2 East. And Dorking always looked likely to strike again, Barker in particular setting the crowd alight with an excellent break upfield.
And as the game swung Dorking’s way, dangerous inside centre Sam Blade finished off a sweeping cross-field move on 35 minutes with an unstoppable burst of speed for the line. With fly half Tom Hardwick converting for 17-7, the home side looked to be back in the driving seat… but Adams cut the Oaks deficit to 17-10 with a penalty on the stroke of half-time.
After the break, Dorking came out firing on all cylinders up the hill as they pinned Oaks in their half. Desperate defence kept Dorking at bay, but a superb outside break from the long-striding Blade set up the bonus point try as he drew the full back to put Hardwick in under the posts to convert his own score. At 24-10, the visitors were finding the going tough and the Dorking pressure unrelenting.
Falloon found himself on the end of a long pass out wide to jink his way over the line, converted by Hardwick for 31-10 and Dorking emptied the bench to good effect. Will Goodfellow came on for a well-earned cap, replacing Jasper King, and hooker Olly Rawlinson, coming on for hooker George Head, wasted no time in grabbing a trademark score, the last man up after the pack rumbled over for 36-10. Hardwick’s conversion increased the lead to 38-10.
Dorking weren’t quite done and extended the lead further when Coyle, excellent under the high ball and a dangerous threat all afternoon, collected a clever chip over the defence from scrum half Luke Baldwin – a consistent driving force throughout – to secure a good win, Hardwick converting for 45-10.
In the final minutes Oaks Zak Jones picked up a late consolation converted by Adams, leaving them still in the drop zone, while Dorking climbed to fourth place ahead of the visit to fifth-placed Westcombe Park in Kent on Saturday. It should be a cracker. Be there!
Dorking DoR Armand Roux said:
“Overall, pretty pleased with our performance today and the squad went about their business very well today.
Sevenoaks was competitive and we really had to stay on task before we started seeing the reward of our efforts.
We have somehow grown to expect the top performances from Bloomer, Nick and Hardwick to name a few, but they were on song and contributed towards a great squad effort"
Teams:
Dorking:
Coyle, Hotston, Howe, O’Leary-Blade, Barker, Hardwick, Baldwin, Connor, Head, Barry, Sammut, King, Howorth, Bloomer, Scholes (c). Replacements - Rawlinson, Stephenson, Goodfellow, Bird, Falloon.
Sevenoaks:
Livett, Ivell, Shepherdson, Begbie, Cummings, Adams, Jones, Foster, Sedgwick (c), Strainge, Irvine, Lee, Green, Englebrecht, Portious. Replacements - Rolfe, James, Hutton, Jones, May
Man of the Match: Harry Barker
Referee: Mr Tom Bird
