Tonbridge Juddians 36 - 45 Dorking
By Jon Watts
Dorking Edge Victory in 13 Try Thriller at The Slade
A bitterly cold day at The Slade, the home of Tonbridge Juddians RFC. An excellent well-run, welcoming community rugby club with lovely people and an ethos very similar to our own. The Slade sports fields sit alongside the river Medway and, being the flood plain, often is in it! It was therefore a surprising turnaround in events when this fixture was one of only two in the league to go ahead due to the inclement weather. There is always great home support at TJs - and noisy too! No bad thing and this very close and thrilling encounter gave the supporters much to be noisy about.
From the kick off, with Dorking playing up the slightest of inclines TJs allowed the ball to bounce which was an error as the ball was gathered up by Dorking. Quick hands saw them almost break clear to score but for a deliberate knock by TJs 10 Sam Evans which earned Dorking a penalty and the miscreant a very early yellow card.
Dorking's backs were on fire. Playing with much greater urgency than they have recently, they demonstrated why this Dorking side sit at the top of National Division 2 East. Quick interplay in the midfield gave wing Toby McRae possession but with much work still to do. Bouncing characteristically off of three attempted tackles he touched down out wide for his and Dorking’s first try, and with Henry Anscombe’s unsuccessful conversion the Red & Whites were ahead 0-5 with 5 minutes played. Their lead was extended further 5 minutes later when a line out to Dorking on TJs 22 was won and the ball punched up midfield. McRae came in off his wing and took a beautiful line to score just to the right of the posts. A much easier conversion this time for Anscombe made it 0-12.
TJs reacted positively to this with some very aggressive forward play, with number 6 Dom McGeekie always in the van and niggling away at Dorking's combative number 8 Finn Osborne. Eventually the referee decided that something had to give and Osborne received a yellow card for his troubles.
A man up, TJs raised their game and a series of driving mauls from a very tight set of forwards allowed lock Charlie Self to get over Dorking's line by the posts and an easy conversion for the recently rested 10 Evans. 7-12. With the visitors still down to 14 players TJs scented blood and kept the pressure on; a number of penalties (the referee was very hot on the high tackle issuing close on 12 for that offence alone) saw the impressive TJ maul come very close to scoring, but they were thwarted by an equally resolute Dorking Defence and the Red & Whites inched away from the danger zone.
Clawing back possession, Dorking’s backs got back into their stride and some great midfield play released full back Joe Andresen to outpace the defence and score in the right hand corner, which Henry Anscombe converted from the touchline. An impressive score when down to 14 players. 7-19. An injury substitution for Dorking’s Ray Jardine saw ‘new boy’ Brian Tuilangi (you read that correctly) off the bench for his first appearance in the club colours.
Tjs always looked dangerous and sure enough they worked their way up into Dorking's 22 and a clever grubber kick through saw Tom Howe sprinting to counter the threat. Howe dived to gather the ball, did so and slid with the ball into the Dorking in goal area. The ball is then lost after the grounding and TJs lively winger Thomas Kendrick dived on the loose ball to claim a try. That, rather than a TJ scrum put in on the 5m line was a controversial judgement. The conversion was missed. 12-19. Probably feeling rather aggrieved Tom Howe upped his already highly impressive game and from the restart broke through the TJ defence to put MacRea away for his third. Anscombe’s conversion drifted wide and the score moved to 12-24.
The game seesawed all afternoon and no sooner did Dorking open the lead than TJs respond. This time the route to their hoped-for salvation came through the driving maul which Dorking needed to keep at arms length - well about 30 to 40 metres would have been ideal. Sure enough another penalty (there are a lot - including 5 yellow cards in this game) and TJs had a 5m line out which they caught and drove. Dorking almost held firm but the TJ 9 Luca Petrozzi picked up and dived over the gounded maul for a cheeky and clever score close to the posts. 19-24 and half time
The second half was barely underway and Cam Cowell received one of the yellow cards for a high tackle. Capitalising on the numerical advantage TJs worked a good move and flanker Tom Nicholl scored under the posts, with Evans’ conversion giving them the lead for the first time in the match. 26-24. The passionate TJ crowd were pleased with this.
The game continued to ebb and flow and Dorking started the long climb up to the TJ line with some very effective driving mauls of their own. A series of drives in the home team’s 22 saw them pull the maul down just short of the line, Dorking awarded a penalty try and the TJ 7 Nicholl, so recently the try scoring hero a yellow card. 26-31. A see saw is however not one sided and TJ’s swiftly responded with a well worked try of their own out wide by Kendrick, 31-31.
Fraser Mosely, Charlie Conner and Daragh Chambers came on for Dorking as the match went in to the last quarter. With the game finely balanced Dorking’s supporters feared the TJ maul, which the Red & Whites needed to keep that away from their line. Sure enough as night follows day yet another penalty was kicked to the corner and TJs mounted another rolling maul assault - which was successful as the rested Nicholl emerged with the ball. The conversion was not and TJ’s retook the lead 36-31.
Thrilling stuff for the supporters of both sides, but Dorking were not going to accept defeat; their body language oozed defiance, they were just not going to go down here, today. Another wonderful thrusting midfield move saw Will Sanders come in off his wing to score out wide. An excellent conversion from Anscombe and Dorking retook the lead 36-38.
With 5 minutes left on the clock Dorking needed to keep TJs pinned in their own half. This they did and they started to threaten the TJ line after a couple of penalties. Some great forward work and the Dorking backs and forwards intermingled to punch at the TJ defence (metaphorically you understand). A clash of bodies saw the game stopped as Dorking’s Tuilagi received treatment and the referee and his assistants conferring, culminating in a red card being awarded TJ’s 6 McGeekie.
With a minute or two remaining Dorking opted for a scrum (rather than a kick) in front of the TJ posts 12m out. A strong Dorking scrum (it has been effective and, at times, dominant throughout the match) and Finn Osborne picked up from the back and drove on for one of his trade mark tries. Together with Anscombe’s conversion this put Dorking two scores clear with seconds remaining. 45-36. And that’s how it ended.
An awesome game from both sides. A truly thrilling spectacle with TJs a very good side who wouldn't give an inch. I think it fair to say that, in the end, Dorking edged this game due to an inner strength that just would not allow them to give this game up. It’s an attitude that has been just a little lacking of late and has now returned just as it was most needed - next week’s clash of first versus second in the league. Esher at home. Wow. Forget the Christmas shopping.
DoR Armand Roux commented:
“If you were a neutral, you would certainly be sitting on the edge of your seat today.
TJ’s were very effective in certain areas of the game and as expected physical in the contact zone. We certainly matched that physicality.
I was very impressed with our resilience today and both the ground and environment was certainly testing for the players and to win a game at The Slade is always a great achievement.
The pack stood up and the backs was in some hungry form, which made a dangerous combination.
Our work is certainly not done and with Esher at home and Worthing away on the 16th, we certainly have to ensure we carry that winning momentum forward until the Christmas break.
The Dorking support was again simply amazing!”
Teams
Dorking:
Andresen, Sanders, Howe, Anscombe, McRae, Cowell, Jackson, Birch, Ellis © Bristow, Howorth, King, Jardine Grant, Osborne, Stephenson, Connor, Chambers, Tuilagi, Mosley,
Tonbridge Juddian:
Taylor-Dennehy, Hotston, Brown, Newey, Kendrick, Evans, Petrozzi, Reid, Holling, Conlon, Hayes, Self, McGeekie, Nicholl, Koomson, Luke, Whitmarsh, Munnelly Ryan, Sullivan, Walsh
Referee – Mr Conor Boyle
Man of the Match –Toby McRae
