Havant 25 – 28 Dorking
Victory Snatched From The Jaws Of Defeat
By Kevin Beal
It’s been three seasons since Dorking and Havant locked horns in what used to be the London & SE Premier league; since then both clubs have successfully navigated their way into the National Leagues, and Havant have acquired an all weather pitch, so despite the weather the fixture was never in doubt. The games were always tight and fiercely contested and with the elements adding a frisson of doubt to the mix along with the vagaries of an all-weather pitch, today’s contest was to be no different.
Dorking chose to kick off playing with the gale force wind to their backs and Havant opted to let the ball bounce into touch and take the line out. An early penalty gave them the chance to regain territory and from a line out on half way they retained the ball and pressured the Dorking defence, gaining a second penalty under the posts for a Dorking high tackle. Despite kicking into the wind, Captain Joel Knight slotted the ball neatly between the posts and the home side took an early 3 -0 lead. Taking the re-start Dorking showed their intent to run the ball, and kept Havant pinned in their own half as the centre pairing of Henry Anscombe and Tom Howe kept their opposite numbers guessing as to whether they would break, pass or chip the ball. A Havant clearance to half way led to a Dorking line out and another centre break, this time snuffed out by a high tackle. Sensing a tight game in the offing, Henry Anscombe opted to kick for goal, successfully, making it 3 apiece and ten minutes played.
The strong gusting wind made ball control difficult for both sides, but it was Dorking who broke the deadlock with a training park try as Tom Holland deftly chipped the ball out to Max Coyle on the wing for the simplest of tries out wide, unsurprisingly, given the conditions, unconverted. 3-8. Havant then applied pressure, with lock Harrison Young winning the footrace to pounce on a loosely hacked ball setting up a position from which they eventually crossed the line for what looked like a try, only for Dorking to come up with the ball and clear it to half way. Dorking then stole the line out, only to be called back with a penalty to Havant for crossing. A kick to corner and an attacking catch & drive ending in a further Dorking infringement, a yellow card for Captain Ellis and 3 points for Havant as Knight opted to kick for goal bringing the score to 6 – 8 with 30 minutes played. It was then Dorking’s turn to attack as their set piece scrum, which had been dominant all game so far won a penalty in front of the posts and Anscombe extended their lead by a further 3 points.
Allowing the kick off to bounce into touch once again, Havant took the resulting line out cleanly and were awarded a penalty as Dorking infringed when their defence looked to have stemmed the attacking midfield move. Rinse and repeat, only this time Havant knocked on in the line out giving Dorking the scrum which Havant contested strongly, and as both front rows popped up, to the delight of the home crowd Dorking were adjudged to be the transgressors. From the penalty and subsequent line out on the Dorking 22 Havant mounted a catch and drive, followed by a succession of pick and drives, but despite repeatedly going very close to the Dorking line, they were held out by the visitor’s defence. A knock on saw the end of what had been an entertaining and closely contested first half with Dorking just in the lead 6-11.
Playing with the wind, Havant started the second half with a popular try from lock Harrison Young as they opted to run rather than kick a close range penalty, and with the conversion missed, it was all square at 11 points apiece. At the restart, Dorking kicked off high and long allowing Tom Howe to recover the ball at speed, only for him to lose the ball forward as a last-ditch tackle brought him down with the line at his mercy. Havant, now with the wind in their favour cleared the ball to the Dorking 22 with a monstrous high ball, fielded superbly by Bryan Hotston who started on a counterattack, only to be stopped dead by a high tackle on the Havant 10m line. Anscombe’s kick into the wind was good and Dorking regained the lead 11-14.
Dorking applied further pressure at the re-start with the forwards and backs combining to set Tom Howe free, only to be called back for crossing and a penalty to Havant. Another well taken lineout off the top on the Dorking 22 combined with a well worked training gorund backs move put full back Ben Griffen over the line, converted by Knight to give the home side an 18-14 lead.
With Hotston taking every high ball that came his way (and there were plenty) and Howe looking for the gap at every opportunity Dorking looked to regain the lead, but the Havant side, buoyed by fresh legs in the pack were equal to the challenge and using the wind well, kept Dorking pinned in their own half. Eventually this pressure told and despite solid Dorking defence, no.8 Alfie Wainscott forced his way over for a converted try, extending the home side’s lead to what looked like an unassailable 25-14 with 12 minutes left to play.
This final period belonged to the visitors as the forwards, led by Finn Osborne and Will Scholes began to dominate in the open field allowing the backs to cut loose and play, in spite of the conditions, some fine expansive rugby. Initially Havant’s defence was equal to the task and it looked like they might hold out. However following a solo run through the Havant defence by Max Coyle, the deadlock was broken on the 76th minute as Tyler Norwood forced his way over for Dorking’s second try, converted by Anscombe, taking the score to 25-21. Dorking retained possession at the re-start and worked their way back into the Havant 22, and on the 79th minute Will Scholes was able to muscle his way over the line just wide of the posts for their third try, giving a slender 1 point lead. With Anscombe’s conversion good the score moved to 25 – 28.
There were, as it turned out a further 5 minutes to play but Dorking managed this period well, keeping Havant in their own half, keeping hold of the ball and eventually, following a set piece scrum clearing to touch for the final whistle.
Final score Havant 25-28 Dorking.
Director of Rugby Armand Roux commented:
“What a game that was in some testing conditions.
On reflection, pleased we showed some character to come back play some Dorking Rugby. Havant deserves some credit as it felt like the hosts was stopping us from gaining any momentum.
We cannot always rely on our ability to win games like today after we have done that a couple of times this year and is certainly a great attitude to have.
Even though I am tremendously proud of this group, the discipline on show today was very poor and something we will need to change if we want to continue the path we are carving out.”
Teams:
Havant:
Griffin, Rudder, Knight ©, Phillips, Lweis, Holt, Jenkinson, Boa, Smith, Young, Parkins, Brock. Replacements – Lindsay, Morgan, Durnin, Shepherd, Carr
Dorking:
Andresen, Hotston, Howe, Anscombe, Coyle, Hardwick, Jackson, Bristow, Ellis ©, Stephenson, Chambers, Golder, Scholes, Bloomer, Osborne. Replacements – Connor, Musa, Maguire, Norwood, Holland
Man of the Match – Bryan Hotston
Referee: Mr Tom Bird
