Dorking 43-17 Havant
Second Half Revival Secures Victory
By Kevin Beal
In the previous encounter away, Dorking produced one of their ‘Houdini’ moments, pulling victory from the jaws of defeat in the dying moments of the game. Havant therefore were very much out for revenge in this return fixture, doubly so as they looked to keep their place in NL 2 East alive. Going 0-12 up in the first fifteen minutes there was a sense of deja-vu amongst both sets of supporters, but five tries in the third quarter of this pulsating game saw Dorking take control after what had been a first half performance that promised much but delivered little.
Havant kicked off playing downhill with the wind behind them and fielding the return box kick were on the scoreboard first as Jacob Ashworth barrelled over from short distance with barely three minutes gone. An easy conversion for skipper Joel Knight put them 0-7 up. An offside penalty at the re-start gave Dorking an attacking lineout, but a knock on gave Havant scrum possession and a chance to clear their lines. With Max Coyle fielding the high ball and breaking up the wing with Toby McRae and Tom Golder in support a try looked on the cards, but the promising position was squandered as the final pass went to ground. Dorking continued to pressure with the clearance kick charged down, but Havant were able to regather from a lineout and clear the ball to touch. Dorking took a clean line out and pressed again, but a second fumble with the line beckoning gave Havant a defending scrum under their posts. Dorking stole the ball in the ensuing passage of play, only for Havant to steal it back and clear. Further tit for tat exchanges saw Dorking come away with the ball and press again through Tom Golder, Tom Howe, Bryan Hotston and Max Coyle, but Havant gathered the chip through and cleared with a massive 50-22 kick giving them an attacking line out on the Dorking 5m line. A clean take off the top and a missed tackle in the midfield saw Joel Knight skip through to touch down and then miss the conversion, giving the visitors a 0-12 lead on the 15 minute mark.
Dorking looked to fight back as play mostly took place in Havant territory for the remainder of the half but they were denied three times. Firstly as Tom Howe broke up the left wing only to be brought down just short of the line by a fine try saving tackle, secondly as a catch and drive maul crashed over only to be called back for ‘crossing’, and thirdly as Finn Osborne broke through but was stripped of the ball over the line as he went to touch down. Havant’s defence held firm thereafter and it wasn’t until the final move of the half that Tom Golder, receiving the ball on the edge of the 22 was able to gallop to the line and touch down under the posts. Craig Holland’s successful conversion lent an air of respectability to the half time score at 7-12.
The second half saw a much improved Dorking performance starting with a catch & drive try from Callum Watson, unconverted, which levelled the scores with just three minutes played. This was followed quickly by their third try from Craig Holland on the end of a set piece move off the top of a lineout which saw the whole back line involved, giving the home side the lead for the first time. 17-12. As Dorking’s set piece scrum very much gained the upper hand with strikes against the head and a number of scrum penalties, this coupled with the aggressive jackaling of Tom Bloomer denied Havant much meaningful possession.
Then as passes began to stick and moves come off, a quick succession of tries from Max Coyle, Toby McRae and Adam Musa, two of which were converted by the returning Henry Anscombe put the game to bed. The first of these came as the now rampaging Osborne pounced on a loose Havant pass, kicking it through for Coyle to win the footrace and dab down out wide on the right wing. The second, as Osborne took the restart catch cleanly, broke through the midfield and slipped the ball to McRae, unstoppable in acres of space, and the third as Osborne picked up from the base of the scrum following a strike against the head, broke through the midfield defence and slipped the ball to the unmarked Musa, making the score 36-12.
With the game now won, and as both sides tired in the heat, a final converted Dorking try from Tom Hardwick, again quick ball down the line off the top of a lineout sealed the victory. It was however Havant who had the last word with a deserved 78th minute consolation try as Dillon Reed collected a Dorking clearance kick and forced his way over on the left wing. With the conversion missed, the final score stood at Dorking 43 – 17 Havant.
Director of Rugby Armand Roux commented:
“We took some time to kick into gear today and the first 30mins Havant was clearly more dominant in most facets of the game.
We had lots of opportunities but could not convert so credit to Havant for celebrating little wins.
The last 50mins of that game was what we were looking for as Opportunities were converted and we always knew we would need to stay patient.
We will take positives from the game and with two games left, know that we will need to step it up against Canterbury away next weekend.
Great support and special thanks to the Dorking under 11’s.”
Scores
Dorking
Tries- Golder 40, Watson 42, Holland 49, Coyle 55, McRae 57, Musa 63, Hardwick 75
Conversions – Holland 40, Anscombe 56, 64, 76
Havant
Tries – Ashworth 3, Knight 14, Reed 78
Conversions – Knight 4
Teams:
Dorking
Coyle, Hotston, Howe, Holland, McRae, Hardwick, Jackson, Connor, Watson, Sheldrake, Golder, King, Scholes (c), Bloomer, Osborne. Replacements - Caldicott, Rawlinson, Howorth, Musa, Anscombe
Havant
Griffin, Phillips, Perry, Knight (c), Wise, Lewis, Duggan, Leat, Boa, Smith, Young, Saunders, Ashworth, Cleeve, Reed. Replacements- Jenkinson, Lindsay, Shepherd, Thomson, Carr
Star Player – Tom Bloomer (Dorking)
Referee: Mr Conor Boyle
Attendance 450
Thank you to the Under 11's for supporting the Seniors on the Day!
