Dorking RFC

Dorking 29   Henley 21

Dorking’s rediscovered form after a wobbly start to the campaign now means that even a solid five-try win over perennially difficult opponents feels somehow a bit disappointing.

The Rugby Paper even mystifyingly referred to Dorking “surviving a late Henley fightback”, which is just the sort of codswallop that gives sports journalists a bad name. 

Rather, Dorking’s immense pack laid an excellent foundation for a sixth straight victory which they never looked in danger of surrendering against a Henley side that failed to deal with the constant pressure they faced and made many mistakes.

Henley were under the cosh after just 5 minutes when from a series of assaults on the Hawks’ line the ball was whipped wide to wing Harry Barker and the “Honey Badger” dived to touch down in the corner, giving Henry Anscombe a mighty conversion task which he nailed beautifully for 7-0.

Henley, having survived relegation, are a different proposition this season and were soon back on the Dorking line with intent but our defence held well. And from the subsequent scrum Hawks were forced into the first of what proved to be many scrum penalties as the front five of Zak Sephenson, Olly Rawlinson, Nick Barry, Dom Samut and Jasper King showed why this pack is one of the very best in the league.

Hawks’ heads went down and on 14 minutes it was the back row’s turn to shine as No8 Finn Osborne raced away from a ruck in his own half before throwing a massive pass to Barker who straightened the line, took the tackle and offloaded a pass behind his back for full back Jack Thorn to run in possibly the try of the season. You’ll want to replay this one over and over. Henry’s kick was just wide, but Dorking were now 12-0 up and in control.

It was proving a decent contest with George Jackson, back at scrum half, and captain Will Scholes keeping Dorking focussed. But Henley’s defence kept Dorking at bay as we worked industriously without reward and it took until just before the interval for the pack to earn their reward for concerted attacks on the Hawks line when Finn went over wide out to maintain his try a game average since returning from injury.  Henry’s kick was just off again, but a half-time lead of 17-0 was a fair reflection of the red and white’s dominance.

If Hawks were hoping for some respite in the second half, the sight of subs George Head and Jimmy Litchfield coming into the front row did not help as normal service was resumed. With five minutes gone, openside flanker Tom Bloomer, back after injuring himself in the first 20 minutes of the season, secured the bonus point supporting a great break from Head to scamper over for the unconverted try and a 22-0 lead.

It was hard at this stage to see where Henley might trouble the scoreboard, centres Ben Heber and Bryan Hotston’s defence frustrating Hawks at every turn. And the arrival off the bench of Daragh Chambers, Ted Wilkie and Tom Newman upped the Dorking workrate at a critical time. But good teams find a way to fight back and with 20 minutes remaining Hawks struck when a blocked kick and a kind bounce gave Michael Cooke a try which he also converted for 22-7. 

Yet shortly after, with Kadeem Collins sin binned, any faint hopes of a Henley comeback were dashed when from a line-out in the Hawks 22m, Head barged around the front to grab try number five which Henry converted for a 29-7 lead.

During the finale, on a beautifully sunny afternoon with the game won, Dorking took their foot off the pedal, conceded two more well-executed and converted tries to Will Benning and Leo Webb … and we lost the Honey Badger to the sin bin which seemed harsh. But Henley, for all their late efforts, left without any points. 

Dorking cruise up into fourth place with games against the top three Oundle, Esher and Old Albanians in the next few weeks during which we will need 80-minute performances. But the signs are that this side still has a lot more to show, starting away at Colchester next weekend.

 
Director of Rugby said:
"I'm proud of our performance today. We were really clinical in certain areas today alongside taking a couple of opportunities really well with our pack laying a wonderful foundation.

Henley did well to get some energy in the closing 10mins but we laid the foundation for a fantastic 5 point win at home" 

Dorking:

Jack Thorn, Will Sanders, Bryan Hotston, Ben Heber, Harry Barker, Henry Anscombe, George Jackson, Finn Osborne, Tom Bloomer, Will Scholes (C), Jasper King, Dom Sammut, Nick Barry, Olly Rawlinson, Zak Stephenson. Subs: George Head, Jimmy Litchfield, Daragh Chambers, Ted Wilkie, Tom Newman. TR Steve Howarth, Max Coyle.