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Reports

12th Dec - Dorking 33 - 5  Farnham

With the entire months rainfall falling in one week, and a forecast predicting even worse to come, it was decided by the club hierarchy that only league games would be allowed to be played on the already saturated pitches, and then only at the discretion of the age groups concerned. So it was little surprise that the under 15’s had the whole club to themselves, and the pick of the pitches.

 The usual prematch preparations were ignored and the “Haribo” warm-up was implemented. Despite the available space the boys crammed themselves into the little changing room at the back. Presumably this was some instinctive way of dealing with the unaccustomed space, but more likely just to keep warm, and postpone the moment of venturing outside!

 As predicted it stopped raining at about 10.45 and everyone trooped up to the top pitch for a quick warm-up and stud inspection prior to the scheduled 11.00 kick off. I assume that we won the toss as we started playing up the field, unfortunately in their eagerness Farnham were caught offside from the first kick, and from the resulting scrum it became apparent that we were up against a big and very able opposition. During the first quarter Farnham had the best of the possession with their fly half controlling the game at an almost walking pace. Dorking on the other hand didn’t seem to settle as well and kicked away too much ball, and it was only some great defensive work from Ed at fullback and Elliott, who was everywhere, that denied Farnham an early score. From a penalty awarded for handling in the ruck. the big Farnham forwards drove the ball down field and were stopped just short of the line with some heroic defence from both Niall and Jack Halstead. This served as a wake up call, and with some pinpoint kicking from Ed, Dorking were back in the opposition half, from a scrappy lineout (they all were) debutant prop Toby showed what good body position and determination could do. With Marc snapping at the heels of his forwards he at last got some quick ball, good hands saw Tom break the opposition line and put Jack Dunleavy in space for the first of a number of breaks that he made up the left wing, unfortunately he chose to kick the ball, and we were back to the lineout lottery.

 Following a beautifully weighted kick from the Farnham fly half which landed in the hands of their winger without even bouncing, it looked as if the initiative had been lost, a big hit from the outstanding Seb Cox soon restored the balance. Seb Bird and Will were constantly in the fray, and when they turned over the ball in the middle of the field Elliott pounced on the ball, broke the tackle and released Rory, who ran round the defence to score under the posts. With Ben kicking the conversion Dorking went into the half time break full of confidence and with a 7-0 lead.

  With fresh blood coming onto the field at the start of the second half Dorking picked up exactly where they had left off. Their scrum came under even more pressure from the attention of Charlie, and the acrobatics of Morgan, Marc and Ben started to click at half back and, when Seb stole a lineout and ran three quarters of the pitch, Dorking really were in control for the first time. The Farnham fly half finding himself the centre of attention fumbled the ball on his line, and Callum was on hand to scoop up the ball and score, and once again Ben Hatton slotted the ball home.

 Five minutes into the half Pete Hyams made his return from injury, and immediately made an impact on both the lineout and the loose play; unfortunately it wasn’t long before he was receiving treatment again! Following three stages of driving play, with the opposition going backwards, Ben Hatton released Ben Francis, who slipped through the defence and put Jack Dunleavy into the corner.

 The next try came from a speculative clearance kick, which was then followed by the soccer skills of Elliott, who dribbled the ball down field for the ever-present Rory to score his second of the game. This was closely followed by a great break by Ed from the middle of the field into the opposition 22, from where Toby barreled his way over the line.

 33-0 and the sun came out!

 Farnham then showed some real grit and took the game to Dorking pinning them down in the 22, Dorking only held them out by desperate defence, but conceded a string of penalties. Eventually the referee had enough and Dom was binned for killing the ball, the muddiest player on pitch left the field knowing that he had been instrumental in Dorkings assured victory. With the last play of the game Farnham got the try they deserved.

 The 33-5 score line hides the fact that this was a fiercely competitive and in the early stages a very close game, Farnham never gave up and had more than their fair share of possession.

 This was a very important win for Dorking, made all the better because it came from an impressive performance from the whole squad, the only downside was that we did not get all the players onto the field.  I would therefore like to thank the boys who ran on the water and the kicking tee, and gave their whole hearted support to everyone on the field, but never touched the ball! Thank you Sam, Robbie, and Zach.

Also a big thank you to John Watts for stepping in at the last minute to referee the match, the way he flourished the yellow card was masterful!

Finally 5 points to be taken on board (you will be tested)

1        Ruck beyond the ball

2        With quick ball the backs can score

3        Do not pass on bad ball, take responsibility

4        In the lineout, 2 hands are a catch, 1 is a slap

5        If the ball is loose claim it with your whole body

27th Nov - Dorking vs. Cranleigh 

Due to a misunderstanding over dates Cranleigh came down a week earlier than expected. So following a condensed hours coaching from first team player and international playboy Simon Love, and a tough workout from our own beast master Steve, the boys were in the perfect mood to take on our local rivals.

 Priority, as is custom, was given to our non-starting boys from the previous league game, and to our 5 new boys from Alexander & Albert, Luke, Lee, Kelvin, Kirian, and Toby, with the rest of the team built around them. As Cranleigh were a player short, yours truly in a moment of great benevolence, lent them our quickest and most devastating finisher Rory, which also meant that one of our most loyal supporters, Danny, was now rooting for the opposition!

 Playing up the slope in the first half Dorking started in their now usual lackluster way, with no obvious desire for the ball, being driven backwards at every scrum, and a penalty count that saw them pushed back deep into their own half. With the confidence of possession Cranleigh moved the ball wide, and as we have seen on numerous occasions over the years Rory with the ball + a little bit of space = try!

 Cranleigh 5 Dorking 0, now the boys began to work, spurred on by Marc the forwards started to hit the rucks, with Sam especially making a nuisance of himself. Quick ball from Niall standing in at scrum half saw the ball speed though the backs to Zach on the wing who then passed back inside to Ben Francis who hit the line at pace from full back to score under the posts. Following a sustained period of pressure on the Cranleigh line Dorking lost the ball and once gain Rory found himself in space, flying down the wing he managed to avoid the desperate tackle of Ben Hatton, but not the awesome covering tackle of debutant full back Ben Francis. Who then proceeded to show his own blistering pace with another try.

  Half time saw a couple of positional changes with Jack Halstead coming into the second row, new boy Toby and Morgan in the front row and Will on the wing!  With possession now assured in the scrum Dorking started to win some quality ball. Fast thinking from Will saw him take a quick line out to Ben Hatton who then threw a long speculative pass that bounced into the hands of Ben Francis, who resisted the temptation to pass, and went over the line to score his third of the day.  With the slope, and a comfortable lead Dorking were now unstoppable, Tom broke the line and fed the ball to center partner Jack Dunleavy, who turned on the gas to round the defence and put the ball down in the corner. Ben Hatton then slotted his first and hardest kick of the day, from the touchline!

 With the all-new back row of Robbie, Kelvin, and rookie Dom Royles starting to function well the forwards once again took the game into the Cranleigh half, who in desperation gave away a string of penalties. Callum taking a quick penalty ran straight at the defence to batter his way over for the score, this with the equally frightening site of Will storming down the touch line, to score his first touch down from the wing finally sealed Cranleighs fate.

 According to the ever-dashing whistle blower Tony, we won 41-5 so that means I have missed mentioning all the scores in this report, so my apologies to those concerned!

20th Nov -Dorking vs. Chipstead

This was our first home league game of the season, and I expected a difficult game against a highflying Chipstead side. Nothing was left to chance, first team changing room, society ref, flattish pitch, official photographer, half time oranges and a beautiful warm sunny autumn morning.

 Unfortunately I think the boys, who are usually happy to just turn up, get changed, and play, were a little phased by my uncharacteristic planning. Dorking playing up the hill into the wind against a physically big Chipstead side, started rather nervously, dropping the ball from the start they were immediately on the back foot, and conceded first a penalty, and then a converted try within the first 10 minutes of play.

 The Dorking forwards started to compete in the loose desperate to win some ball so that they could unleash the backs, but the cold weather combined with an urgency to push the game, saw a number of loose passes and dropped ball. Chipstead counter attacked our mistakes well, and despite some ferocious tackling, were able to score again. Dorking came close to scoring on a couple of occasions with Eliott running hard and releasing Rory in space but on each occasion last minute decision making let Dorking down.

 The second half started well with Niall stealing a line out and charging down the touch line, from the ruck Dorking got quick ball down the line with Tom handling the ball twice in a movement that saw Jack chip ahead and recover the ball, quick ruck ball saw Seb Cox dive into the corner for a well deserved try. Ben kicked a lovely ball from the touchline, which though he curved it beautifully, it just failed to dissect the posts.

 Chipstead answered back straight away driving the Dorking defence back they scored a try almost from the restart.

 Chipstead ran out worthy winners at 29-5, but the Dorking boys never gave up and they had to work hard for their victory, and if we had kept the ball in hand a little more, and made our first up tackles count, I am sure we could have pushed them further!

 A lot of positives can be gained from this game. Again despite injury and unavailability’s we were able to put out a side capable of competing at this level, and there were some fine performances from a number of boys especially Elliott, Seb Cox, Dom Butler-Manuel, and Jack Dunleavy.

 Also a special mention must be made of the subs, who braved a cold morning supporting their teammates both vocally and with water, a number of whom did not get on!

So thank you very much Sam Mallinson, Zach Woodcock, Dom Royles Owen Knowles and Robbie Baldwin, your commitment is greatly appreciated!

4th Nov - Dorking vs. Rosslyn Park

As we spent a very pleasant morning in London’s largest park I thought that instead of a full match report of who passed to whom, and what happened next, I would take the ref at his own words and be “a little bit flexible”!

Facts and figures.

Richmond Park covers 2500 acres.

There are 1200 trees in the park.

49 different species of grasses

300 Red deer

350 Fallow deer

63 species of birds breeding in the park

250 different fungi

19 outstanding Dorking U15's.

4 happy Dorking coaches

Many proud parents & supporters

Dorking 41-Rosslyn Park 12!!

Having found somewhere to park, “yomped” to the rugby pitch, put on our change kit, warmed up, run some unopposed, I was exhausted, but the boys were looking good.

Unfortunately when the whistle went Dorking were hit by a very fired up Rosslyn Park and suffered an early set back when an “unnoticed knock on” led to a 5-0 deficit. Luckily another “unnoticed knock on” from the start saw Dorking take the lead, which they then held for the rest of the game. Whilst Park were rucking better than Dorking we still got enough ball to unleash our quality back line, which lead to a further 6 tries. Early in the second half some sloppy defense, and some interesting rucking whereby the opposition came “through the channel” at the side of the ruck, led to Parks second try!

The reasons we won are as follows

 1 solid tight play from Morgan, Jack, Callum and Niall

 2 ferocious tackling and driving play from Will, Ben Francis, Sebs Bird & Cox

 3 leadership of Marc

 4 control of the game from Ben Hatton

 5 vision and pace to Elliot and Rory

 6 great linking play of Tom and Jack

 7 tactical kicking of Ed

 8 the way the subs Robbie, Alex, Owen and Zach slotted seamlessly into the side

 9 my boots

 10 Steve’s natural ability to get on with the ref

Areas we need to work on as follows

Get a good night rest before a game.

Remember to bring all our kit with us.

To ruck beyond the ball.

Not to get isolated with the ball.

All easily rectified!

Well done everyone, players, parents, and supporters, especially Freddie, Pete, and Jake.

21st Oct 07 - Dorking v Crawley  

 With an extra long half term break for most of the boys, we knew we were going to be short on numbers, 11 had informed me that they would not be available, but that still left a good size squad for the away friendly at nearby Crawley.

 Sunday morning Crawley rugby club all the usual questions arose, which changing room should we use? Which pitch would we be on? Could we provide a referee? All these problems have a way of sorting themselves out, the one problem that nothing could be done about, was the failure of a number of boys to not only fail to show up, but not even have the decency to let anyone know that they were not coming!

 So there we were 13 boys on pitch 3, referee organized, and a full Crawley squad eager to get to grips with their local rivals.

 With an early injury to Morgan McKinnon-Snell, sustained as he attempted to stop the large Crawley prop from scoring in the opening minutes, Adam Day bravely stepped into the front row, where he was able to utilize his strength in pushing rather than striking for us to a least keep possession in the scrum. Crawley could sense that today would be a good day to put in a strong performance and set down a marker. Just like London Irish last week they ran hard and straight desperately trying to punch holes in the over stretched Dorking defense, which they managed to do, despite some huge tackles put in by both Callum Harris and Seb Bird. In the process of stopping another onslaught, the mightily impressive Peter Hyams injured his wrist and had to leave the field. We all hope it is not too serious and that he will be back with us again soon.

 It was pretty evident that the boys were going to have to do a lot of defending against a now rampant Crawley, so our blond bombshells Dom Newman and Marc Barrett  attacked the opposition half backs and in doing so snuffed out many an attack before it got going.

 With a now recovered Morgan back on the field, and the big man, Jack Halstead, anchoring the scrum, we started to win some quick scrambled ball.  Ben Hatton at his first outing at fly half controlled the game well, chipping their back line he then put pressure on their full back who in desperation kicked the ball back to Rory Bennett, who flew up the field deep into the opposition 22 before being bundled in to touch. Pressure at the resulting line out gave the scrum to Dorking, quick hands down the line, a step and pass from Tom Dobson put Jack Dunleavy into space and he darted over the line to score.

 These were to be the only points Dorking got, Crawley continued to exploit the holes appearing in the tiring Dorking ranks, and despite a try saving tackle from the fearless Zach Woodcock, and an outrageous “interception” from Callum Harris, it was Crawleys day!

  Nothing can be taken away from Crawley they played well, scored lots of tries, helped us out with players, and were perfect hosts, I only hope that next time we meet we can give them a “proper” game.

 As for Dorking were they the lucky 13? Loyal 13? Fearless 13?

No they were 13 heroes, 13 brave boys who stood up when the time came to be counted, 13 boys who donned their Dorking shirts and took to the field proud to be representing their club!

14th Oct 07 - Dorking v London Irish  

A leisurely drive up the M25 and M3 takes you right to the heart of Sunbury, and London Irish rugby club, and it was here at 10.00 am sharp that the motley bunch of boys met. A quick visit to the changing rooms saw them reemerge as the Dorking U15 rugby team. Warm up drills followed, by the usual inspirational pre match talk from Steve saw them ready to take on the rather large green clad opposition. Unfortunately they were not quite as ready as the Irish who capitalized on a dropped catch from the start, to score a try in half the time it had taken Josh Lewsey on Saturday night!

 Up against a big well drilled squad the Dorking boys rallied and started to win some possession  Marc Barrett receiving quick ball from his forwards passed the ball to Ed Rosen who put in a long spiraling kick across field for flying winger Rory Bennett to run onto who raced deep into the opposition 22 before being hauled down. Minutes later slow ball out to Ben Francis playing his first game in center as replacement for Dom Butler-Manuel, saw him place the ball neatly behind the Irish backs, and this time Rory managed to gather and score in the corner.

 Dorking with stood the Irish backlash with some solid rucking and desperate tackling. Despite a few mismatches on the field notably Zach Woodcock against a giant winger, from whom he did not shy away from, everyone worked hard, with the back row trio of Seb Bird, Dom Newman and Seb Cox particularly outstanding. But the Irish proved what a well drilled outfit they are and hard straight running, keeping the ball alive and good support play saw them run in another converted try to give them a 14-5 lead at half time.

 Dorking started the second half with their tails up the pack were not only winning their own ball, but Morgan McKinnon-Snell also took a couple of beauties against the head. (lets not mention putting the ball in on the wrong side and feeding the opposition!) Locks Niall Pratley and Callum Harris, and props Freddie Evans and Jack Halstead dogged it out in the loose refusing to surrender the ball or territory without a fight. Against the run of play Irish won a penalty, which gave them a further 3 points and more importantly reinstated their self-belief, which they had lost in the face of the Dorking pressure. Dorking ran everything, swift hands from center Tom Dobson released full back Jake Presley who flew down the left wing before being stopped short by a try saving tackle from his opposite number. Irish were quick to retaliate turning over ball from isolated players they steam rolled their way up the field, and released their backs who, despite a last minute tackle from Owen Knowles, manage to score under the posts. Looking tired, the boys did not give up, replacement prop Charlie Dyer slotted seamlessly into the pack to continue practicing the “dark arts”, and winger “jumping” Jack Dunleavey scooped up a loose ball and beat his man at pace in an attempt to keep the boys hopes alive. But it was Irish who had the last say with their number 8 picking up the ball from the back of a 5 metre scrum to charge over un-molested.

 At 27-5 London Irish were deserved winners, but Dorking can take away something, there were a number of personal battles won on the field, and their spirit and commitment cannot be questioned. Coach Steve Pratley has identified the areas on which the team needs to work, namely first up tackles and rucking, both of which happen to be favorites of his, so you have been warned!

 Other plus points, it was good to see Will Edgley with his first wrinkle on his forehead, and new player Peter Hyams who has decided to join us and not London Irish so we must be doing something right. Special thanks must also go to Mark Francis who stepped in at the last minute to referee the game, which he did with great style, clarity, and fairness. 

We would like to thank the fo

Guy Salmon  Thames Ditton

Guy Salmon  Gatwick

                           Dorking Rugby Football Club, The Pavilion, The Big Field, Brockham, Surrey RH3 7LZ     ( 01737 844282