Dorking 33 – 38 Barnes
Barnes Edge 11 try thriller in final move.
By Kevin Beal
26-25, 17-13, 31-29. A seven point separation across the last three fixtures with all games settled in the dying minutes. So it was no real surprise then, when in keeping with the close nature of these matches, Barnes took the spoils with an 80th minute try to seal victory in a contest that saw the lead change hands nine times.
Playing under lights on Cobham’s artificial pitch after The Big Field was deemed unplayable following the week’s frosts, Barnes set off at a rush and opened the scoring early with an unconverted try out wide from Paul O’Dell as repeated forward pick and drives sucked in the Dorking defence to create space for the wing to coast in unopposed. Dorking were swift to respond as from a text-book lineout move the backs spun the ball wide to Tom Howe who burst through several tackles to even things up. With Henry Anscombe adding the conversion the Red & Whites were ahead 7 - 5. A period of Dorking pressure yielded a scrum penalty and good field position but this was snuffed out as the Barnes forwards turned the ball over and applied pressure of their own. Barnes’ second, through Ethan Sikorski was a carbon copy of their first, and with Jack Wilstead-Thomas’ successful conversion they took a 7-12 lead. In this end to end match it was then Dorking’s turn to score as following a kick through by Craig Holland, Captain Jonny Ellis popped up on the end of a backline move for their second out wide right to even the scores before O’Dell, after further forward drives put Barnes ahead once more on the 30 minute mark. Dorking’s forwards upped their game, disrupting the Barnes set piece and eventually winning a scrum penalty, from which Craig Holland evened things up again and Anscombe’s conversion gave the ‘home’ team a 19-17 lead at half time.
Barnes started the second half with a soft converted try as Dorking let the kick off bounce (what should we never do lads??) and a Maradona style ‘Hand of God’ Barnes knock on, unseen by all three officials wrongfooted the Dorking defence putting Oliver Tack in the clear. In this see-saw contest, a period of intense Dorking pressure then saw play once more in the Barnes 22 with a Dorking penalty, 5 m line out, catch and drive and Joel Grant over the line to even things up. With Anscombe’s conversion good, Dorking retook the lead 26-24. Five minutes later in a series of similar plays in Dorking’s half – penalty – line out – catch & drive, it was then Barnes’ turn for a try as James Gallagher replicated the move to put them back in front. And then Tom Bloomer did the same again for Dorking, putting the Red & Whites back in charge, 33 - 31
The plastic pitch took its toll in the fourth quarter as players unfamiliar with the demands of the surface began to tire and the intensity of the game slowed slightly with errors creeping in to both sides’ play. As the clock wound down it seemed that Dorking had done enough, but then came the hammer blow as following yet another lineout catch and drive the Barnes pack, in the final move of the game shunted Ben Christie over the line for the winning score, converted by Wilstead-Thomas. And with no time for a restart it was jubilation for Barnes and heartbreak for Dorking. Full time - 33-38
Director of Rugby Armand Roux commented:
If you were a neutral, then you would have loved the rugby today.
It is a real shame we ended up on the wrong end of the scoreboard as the effort and energy was outstanding.
We failed to execute in certain parts of the game, which cost us in the end and is something we can focus on next week.
I thought some of the Dorking players really worked hard today, but credit to Barnes for never giving up and upholding the tradition of close encounters between the 2 of us.
Teams:
Dorking:
Andresen, Sanders, Howe, Anscombe, King W, Holland, Stephenson, Ellis (c), Connor, Howorth, King J, Chambers, Bloomer, Grant
Replacements: Watson, Karimanzira, Jardine, Musa, Smith
Barnes:
Watson, O’Dell, Souter, Weightman, Osbourne, Wilstead-Thomas, Davies (c) Wood, Sikorski, Marsh, Murphy, Ascroft-Leigh Spencer-Jones, Alex McLean, Gallagher
Replacements: Humphreys, Tack, Christie, Hardie, Lloyd
Man of the Match - Jasper King
Referee: Mr Phil Russell
Attendance – 340
Scoring:
Dorking
Tries: Howe 9, Ellis 25, Holland 36, Grant 45, Bloomer 56
Conversions: Anscombe (4) 10, 37, 46, 57
Barnes
Tries: O’Dell (2) 5, 30 Sikorski 19, Tack 41, Gallagher 51, Christie 80
Conversions: Wilstead-Thomas (4) 20, 42, 52, 81
