RFU National 2 East - Dorking v HRFC (L43-17)
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First Impression: Dorking v HRFC (L43-17)
Venue: The Pavillion
Crowd: Approx 400
Weather: Warm sunshine/ Chilly Easterly Breeze
Surface: Dry Grass
Havant Rugby Football Club
Dorking RFC
Match images are now available at: https://windandsurfimages.zenfolio.com/p807109269
Coaches Comment: @HavantRugbyFootballClub You Tube Channel
First impressions provides a short sharp back-brief of a fading memory of 'what just happened on the pitch' for anyone who couldn't get to the game. Hopefully it serves to provide a bit of match context as you peruse our images. Sadly there's No time to access match video, hence there might be some mistaken memories or differences of opinion, but this is nothing more than a simple collection of touchline thoughts to fire your imagination for next time ... and not the official match report. #IMHO
Excerpt from Adam King's Rugby round-up:
"A classic game of 2 halves at 2nd placed Dorking for the 1s as it often is on the slopey pitch at " The Big Field". It was an electric start from the Lanemen with Eddie Lewis slicing open the D's defence before offloading to Jacob Ashworth to go in under the poles with Joel Knight adding the 2 for 0-7 on 4! The lead was increased on 19 as JK smashed his way through 3 tacklers off-loading to Archie Cleeve for 0-12 on (19). Despite applying pressure at times and having a try disallowed a crucial score from the Surrey men up the hill before HT left it 7-12 at the break.
However Dorking are 2nd for a reason and cranked up the pressure after the break scoring at regular intervals to lead 43-12 after (75) before Dylan Read powered over late on for a final 43-17. With both Worthing & Colchester losing however we stay up for another season and credit must go to the coaches and playing squad tonight as we maintain National 2 rugby for another season."
- Reproduced by Kind permission of Mr Adam King / HRFC
First Impression Analysis:
Definitely a game of two halves where the slope of the pitch and the flow of the wind looked to give the team playing downhill some benefit. As such playing up the slope in the first half, the hosts looked to be out of sorts for a while, as Havant started well and piled on the pressure. Our interplay looked confident and passes were largely sticking, our field position was generally in their half and their attacks were largely being met with robust defence - the highlight being the effectiveness of our scramble defence, where despite a pacy Dorking backline looking for every opportunity and presenting a real threat, some crucial Havant try saving tackles kept the game nicely in balance. Generating two well worked first half tries was no fluke but somewhat unexpected, while the denial of our 3rd try was a real shame (apparently the Ref took offence to some tit-for-tat shirt pulling and disallowed the try). The failure to get the 3rd try subsequently created a slight shift in the game momentum, and gave Dorking a better chance to consolidate and get themselves back into the game before half time, subsequently creating momentum enough to break through our defensive lines and get themselves a converted try before half time.
Second half was very different, in all truth we probably fell off our first half pace and intensity, while Dorking seemed to step up a gear. The pitch at Dorking is probably the widest we play on and when playing down the slope they generally looked to spread the ball wide at every opportunity to give their pacy back three a real go at us in space. Sure enough once they had established their momentum it wasnt long before they began stretching the defence and generating some quick scores. The speed and ease with which they achieved that probably highlighted an indication of their league potential and what was to come for the rest of the half. While we certainly remained in the game, we were definitely on the back foot and were having to be reactive to the increasing Dorking pressure. Our solid first half attacking presence was now largely put on hold, as Dorking had much of the ball and were happy to play down the slope with the wind into the corner. As the scoreline started to build, so the Dorking freedom of play improved, and to some extent our heads went down and body language started to look flat. Despite the scoreline deficit, on '78 it was nice to see we were able to generate some flow and developed a series of phases up in the red zone and finally were able to get it to the overlap, where Dylan Read dived over for try number 3. A quick rushed conversion attempt as we were now looking to grab a 4th try for the BP. As it was, it really wasn't necessary - both Colchester and Worthing had lost today, so in effect we are now safe and clear of the bottom two and will remain in the National League next season.
Notwithstanding the manner of this heavy defeat, the pace and intensity generated in the first quarter was good - we need to bottle that and bring it to every game, as the focus should now will be on generating a full 80 min clinical performance across both the last two games, I think this squad certainly owe it to themselves to play to their full potential and although we have seen glimpses throughout the season - we have yet to achieve that 80 min performance 😎👊 #upthehill #noeasygames #nopressure #nextjob #buildinguptofinalflurry
Match Storyboard
1. Good lively start piling pressure on Dorking.
2. Eddie Lewis creating the break to offload to Jay Ashworth for the first score.
3. Joel Knight smashing his way through 3 tacklers to offload to Archie Cleeve for the second.
4. Shirt pulling shenanigans prevented the 3rd try (Jay Ashworth on a roll!)
5. Dorking fight back and regain momentum, nabbing a try before Half time (HT 7-12)
6. Second half - A Different Dorking and a somewhat subdued Havant. Pressure was on and our defence crumbled at times to let in soft tries.
7. Finally Havant build some momentum and develop a coherent attacking opportunity to put Dylan Read over in the corner.
8. FT 43-17 - tough day in surrey but following other associated results / we are safe in NAT2E for another season.
PS: Nice Carpark!
Match Image slideshow: https://windandsurfimages.zenfolio.com/p807109269
Subscribe (Free) to the @HavantRugbyFootballClub You Tube Channel to see the Coaches Game Reports/ Pre-match Comments.
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