Worthing Raiders 18 – 29 Dorking
Joy at last at Roundstone Lane
By Kevin Beal
Roundstone Lane has not been a happy hunting ground for Dorking of late with three losses from the last three visits, but with Raiders lying an uncharacteristically lowly 12th in the league and the Red & Whites 2nd, the travelling faithful were hopeful that the record might be set straight in this fixture.
A couple of late changes to the team meant a few new(ish) faces in the line up with others in unfamiliar positions, but the team were quietly confident that they could ‘do the business’ and come away with the full five points.
But that wasn’t how it started as Raiders came out of the blocks fast, collecting the kick off well and recycling the ball taking play to the Dorking try line where an attacking scrum and subsequent offside penalty gave fly half Lou Ellis the simplest of kicks to put them in the lead after three minutes. 3-0
Dorking’s response was swift and clinical as Joel Grant stole the ball from the Raiders line out and slipped the ball to no8 Finn Osborne to sprint away for the first try of the afternoon, converted by Anscombe to make it 3-7 with eight minutes played. Three minutes later a Dorking catch & drive from a line out on half way put wing Will King, substituting for the flu ridden Toby McRae away in the corner for their second, again converted try. 3-14. The match then settled into something of a penalty fest as first Anscombe, and then Raiders’ Ellis notched one apiece making it 6-17 before slick and fast hands put full back Cam Cowell away down the right wing for Dorking’s third, this time unconverted try.
Raiders, confusingly for the spectator wearing some very strange number combinations, responded with stinging attacks of their own spearheaded by the back row trio of Gearing Grief, Knight and Taggart, aided by numerous penalties in their favour as the visitors seemingly got on the wrong side of the referee yielding territory with every kick. The pressure eventually told as Raiders’ full back Tom Bowen (he could sidestep his way past you in a telephone booth the match commentator helpfully advised) slipped through the Dorking defence to dab down just behind the posts for their first try, converted by Ellis. A Dorking infringement in the in goal area meant that the match re-started with a Raiders penalty shot a goal by Ellis (missed) and a yellow card for Dorking’s Harry Elbrow.
And that was the first half done. 13-22
Dorking received the kick as the second half got underway and their attacking intent was clear as the forwards took control with two line out catch and drives giving good field position. However, Sir decided that George Jackson’s attempt to retrieve the trapped ball from the ruck was a little over aggressive and awarded another penalty to Raiders and a yellow card to Jackson meaning the Red & whites were down to 13 men.
No matter, as they managed to regain the ball and pressure the Raiders line culminating in lock Jasper King taking the ball at speed and crashing over for the fourth, bonus point try, converted by the now badly limping Anscombe. 11-29. Playing keep ball in the Raiders’ half, the Red & whites were unable to add to the tally with the 2 man disadvantage, and then rather perversely managed to concede a score once back to full strength as the Raiders upped their game pinning them back on their own line through a mix of backline moves and penalty kicks.
A well taken 5m line out saw hooker Jack Doorey Palmer over in the far left hand corner for an unconverted try on the 60 minute mark making the score 18-29. Despite much possession and pressure, Raiders were unable to add to their tally as the final 20 minutes saw something of a stalemate as the Dorking defence sucked up everything that was thrown at them and Raiders did the same at the other end.
As the clock went red, Raiders had one final attempt with an attacking 5m line out but the Red & Whites were able to snaffle the ball and a grateful Cowell hoofed the ball into touch signalling the end of the match. Raiders 18 – 29 Dorking.
DoR Armand Roux commented:
“I’m really pleased we managed to put a better performance together today showing some great character to bounce back.
There were some great moments in the game where we stuck to script and it paid dividends with some great tries.
Calling Will King early this morning to step in for Toby was an great opportunity for him to show what he can do and as far as National 2 debut goes, it was great performance.
The pack was really dominant with the backs being really clinical in attack.
I’m really looking forward to the new year so we can build on this performance”
Man of the match:
Will King
Teams
Dorking:
Cowell, Sanders, Howe, Mosley, Anscombe, King W, Jackson, Bristow, Ellis ©, Birch, Howorth, King J, Grant, Elbrow, Osborne, Connor, Watson, Chambers, Andresen, Jardine
Worthing Raiders:
Bowen, Forrest H, Forrest J ©, Sims, Barnes, Ellis, Ringlesford, Sargeant, Doorey Palmer, Featherstone, Lake, Grinstead, Gearing-Grief, Knight, Taggart, Gatford, Magda, McAdams, Dobinson, Bellamy
Referee: Mr Jack Sutton
