Esher 50 – 28 Dorking
Esher take the Title in Style (But were made to work very hard)
By Kevin Beal
Esher ran out comfortable winners in this pulsating end to end top of the table clash to secure the National 2 East title and promotion back to National League 1. Outscoring Dorking by seven tries to four with a decisive three tries to nil in the final quarter, they emphasised why they have been the team to beat this season.
Dorking were first on the scoreboard as Joe Andressen chased through and latched on to a chip through to touch down out right on the six minute mark, converted by Anscombe. As was to become a feature in this hotly contested match, Esher hit back quickly as lock Hugh Sloan found himself on the end of a backs move and over in the left hand corner, with captain Sam Morley adding the extras to even the score. With both sides attacking and defending ferociously, possession see-sawed in the midfield and with Esher’s set piece having marginally the upper hand Finn Osborne was kept busy at the back of the scrum picking up difficult ball to keep the Red & Whites in possession. Eventually Dorking worked their way back into the home team’s 22, but it took Dorking’s try machine Toby McRae a further eleven minutes to work out how to unlock the Esher defence, following some fine hands amongst the back line to re take the lead, only for Esher’s Pierre Thomson to reply almost instantly and even things up again. Both sides then traded yellow cards as firstly Dorking’s Jasper King was pinged for a high tackle (one for the team the referee confirmed post-match) followed swiftly by one for Esher’s Thomson as he deliberately knocked on five metres out from his try line foiling a promising Dorking attack – hero to zero in five minutes!! Dorking’s forwards then pressured the Esher line but their defence held firm, and eventually they cleared their lines to relieve the pressure. Shortly before half time the home side took the lead for the first time as Harry Faulkner came in to the back line feeding off the back of a set piece scrum, and with Morley’s boot on target they took a 21-14 lead. Dorking kicked long at the re-start and King charged down and gathered the return kick from Faulkner. A last ditch cover tackle saw him downed just short of the line, sadly twisting his knee in the process and forcing him to sit out the rest of the match under the supervision of the physio team, and Esher took their 21-14 lead into the changing room at half time.
Dorking started the second half in the ascendancy as both forwards and backs pressured the Esher line. Again the home defence held firm in the face of the visitor’s rolling mauls and pick and drives, giving up a number of penalties and gaining a further yellow card but despite all of this it was ten minutes before Adam Musa, on for the injured King found a way over the line under the posts and with Anscombe’s conversion good the scores were even again at 21 apiece. But only for a few minutes as Morley kicked high at the re-start allowing his forwards to tap back and retain the ball and for Andy Hamilton to find a way through Dorking’s defence to score. 28 – 21. McRae’s second try came five minutes later, as Dorking’s forwards and backs combined and spun the ball wide to the left wing. A superb touch line conversion into the wind from Anscombe evened the scores once again but as the match entered the final quarter and Dorking’s injury toll mounted, Esher took control. Myles Rawston-Rudd, Sam Bullock and Finlay McBrearty all crossed the whitewash, the latter in the final play of the game, and with Morley adding a penalty to two conversions the score moved to 50-28, securing both the match and the league title.
Esher’s Coach Chris Wilkins commented “It was a fantastic game of rugby and Dorking made us work very hard. It was not until the final quarter that I felt we gained the upper hand in what was an end to end contest.”
Dorking’s Armand Roux commented
“Esher showed their class in the last 20mins after we stuck to plan and was in the game until then.
I’m tremendously proud of the Dorking team, not only for the way we reacted when injury struck but also the fight by the team in big parts of that game
We will be looking to finish our season on a high when we host Wimbledon at the The Big Field on the 27th April. ”
Referee
Mr Michael Lamb
Teams
Esher:
Faulkner, Robbins, Donnelly, Rawston-Rudd, Botterill, Morley (c), Thompson, Lowes, Hamilton, Skoumbourdis, Wem, Wilkins, McBrearty, Kirby. Replacements - Crawley, Ganley, Leckey, Seriki, Bullock
Dorking:
Andresen, Sanders, Mosey, Anscombe, McRae, Holland, Jackson, Birch, Ellis (C) Bristow, Chambers, King, Grant, Bloomer, Osborne. Replacements - Connor, Stephenson, Musa, Gwyther, Hotston
Star Man: Sam Morley (Esher)
Scores
Esher:
Tries: Sloan (11) Thompson (26) Faulkner (38) Hamilton (51) Rawston Rudd (58) Bullock (67) McBrearty (77)
Conversions: Morley (12, 27,39,52, 59, 670
Pen: Morley (57)
Dorking:
Tries: Sanders (6), McRae (22, 54) Musa (50)
Conversions: Anscombe (7, 23, 51, 55)
Attendance 1415
