Worthing 34-61 Dorking
Roundup at the Roundstone
By Kevin Beal
There have been some close and intense games between Dorking and Worthing at the Roundstone ground over the years, but sadly this was not one of them. Playing in front of a strangely subdued crowd, a young and inexperienced Worthing side, with, it has to be said some promise particularly in the back line found the all-round strength of this Dorking side too much to handle, and whilst they did run in several well worked tries, they never looked like running out winners.
Having said all of that they were first on the scoreboard as Jake Rutherford worked his way over the tryline from the kick off; Worthing having fielded the ball well, winning a penalty and securing the subsequent 5 metre line out. 7-0 as Dillon Worsley successfully slotted the conversion. Dorking retained the ball at the re-start and spinning the ball down the line, Tom Howe burst through several flailing arms in reply for Dorking’s first try of the afternoon, converted by Henry Anscombe levelling the scores with six minutes played.
Worthing struck back through a Worsley penalty to re-take the lead, before Jonny Ellis scored the first of his Captain’s brace to put Dorking back in front, a position they were not to relinquish again. Capitalising on majority possession, and it has to be said, Worthing’s ability to cough up the ball at critical moments and get on the ‘wrong side’ of the referee, giving away a succession of penalties, Dorking’s backs and forwards linked well to overpower the hosts as they ran in a further five converted tries through Max Coyle, Daragh Chambers, Finn Osborne, Henry Anscombe and Tom Bloomer, with a solitary penalty from Worthing’s Worsley in reply to give an armchair comfortable 13-47 lead at half time.
Worthing started the second half as they had the first, with vigour and an early try as Captain Jack Forrest slipped several Dorking tackles to scorch away down the right wing and touch down in the corner. With replacement Tom Meyers kicking the first of several difficult conversions, the deficit was reduced by seven points, 20-47. Dorking replied through Captain Ellis as their forwards pressured the Worthing line, as Finn Osborne picked up from the base of the scrum and slipped the ball to him for his second converted try.
The match then became somewhat muted as in a reversal of the first half, Dorking seemed to get on the ‘wrong side’ of Sir, with the resulting penalties gifting possession and momentum to the home side. After a period of good forward pressure, Lock Oliver Crow found himself in possession on the Dorking 22 and with an open field in front of him, showed a good turn of pace to score a very well worked try. And with veteran no 8 Frank Taggart crashing over for his side’s fourth try, both converted by Meyer, the bonus point was secured. Sandwiched between these two, Dorking’s Coyle bagged his second, again converted, giving nine tries in total for the visitors and a final score of 34-61.
DoR Armand Roux commented:
“It’s a another 5 points on the road for us and the team did the Job.
We scored some great tries but if we are being honest with ourselves, we dropped our defensive standards and we took our foot off the gas.
Great to see Zak, Ryan and Arlo get a run out with the 1’s yesterday and I am keen to see how they all develop over the season.
Great to have the Dorking support down on the South Coast where we certainly outnumbered the hosts.
All focus turn to Guernsey”
Teams:
Worthing:
Worsley, Boxall, Rutherford, Bruno, Beer, Forrest ©, Myles, Bruce, Dakin, Luke, Crow, McAdams, Ure, Jardine, Taggart. Replacements – Glass, Feathersone, Havers, Mayer, Tomlinson.
Dorking:
Andresen, Hotston, Howe, Anscombe, Coyle, Hardwick, Jackson, Bristow, Ellis ©, Stephenson, Howorth, Chambers, Scholes, Bloomer, Osborne. Replacements- Connor, Musa, McGuire, Copp, Holland
POTM – Bryan Hotston
