Match Report – 22/10/23 Farnham 2s V Dorking (A)
Dorking Women continued their away run of matches in the league with a trip to Farnham with the anticipation of facing their toughest opposition yet with a current top of the table clash.
Nerves were evident from both sides with the start of play going back forth between the teams in the centre of the pitch, but it was Dorking who settled first with some fantastic linking phase play through their forwards pods to create the space out wide for Jemma Wood to set off for their first of the day after just 12 minutes with an excellent conversion by Stevie Cook.
This was clearly going to be a physical battle with both sides putting in big hits and with Farnham quick to the ruck, creating turnover opportunities. But it was the quick thinking and devastating power of Lucie Warren stripping the ball and shipping to Lucia Schifano who ran a fantastic hard line through the defence allowing Caroline Court to fly over the line in the corner for Dorking’s second try. The angle too tough for Cook to convert leaving the score at 0-12.
Farnham continued their fight with the play moving to the Dorking half. Quick reaction speeds took an interception which was taken over the line, but the positioning left too much to do for the conversion with it falling short of the posts.
With Dorking regrouping, and a rushed defensive kick on their line from Farnham falling short, Schifano was able to easily gather the ball and power through the defence who passed to Wood to score Dorking’s third try right under the posts for a confident conversion by Cook with the score 19-5 at half time.
Dorking started the second half with powerful intent from Jas Pitt-Payne demolishing their forwards, breaking the line for a quick ball to Dara Wilson, sending it wide to Imogen Triggs who took it over the one for the fourth try of the day - sadly too much to do from such a wide angle for the conversion.
Farnham did not give up pushing right to the Dorking line, but an unbreakable Dorking defensive line relentlessly took phase after phase to prevent Farnham from scoring. The turnover stunning Farnham with a devastating run from nearly the halfway line by Schifano who scored a well-deserved try after providing such solid support play opportunities all afternoon. Another conversion by Cook took the score to 5-31.
It wasn’t long before Schifano was off again on a devastating hard line run crashing through the defence and taking the ball over the line for their second of the day and taking it to the final whistle.
Dorking continue their dominant winning streak with a result of 5-36 but knowing there are some tough matches to come both in the league and Cup. Next match will be at home on the Big Field on the 29th October against Beckhenam Ladies 2 who are currently the league above Dorking. It would be great to see as many supporters down as possible to give the team the home advantage boost. Until then we recover, train hard and we go again!
