The sun was out for the large crowd that came to watch the first Colts match of the season and the rugby did not disappoint.
Sam Lenihan got the ORs on the front foot from the first scrum with a dynamic carry right through the heart of the Dorking team. After early pressure from ORs saw them camped on the Dorking line with a penalty on its way, they really needed to convert the pressure into points. Rather than take the easy 3 points the Colts, led by Harvey Merry, decided to take the quick tap to go for the seven-pointer.
The intent to play an expansive game was evident, however Dorking defended well and shortly after, and against the run of play, scored under the posts. ORs kept their heads up and after 10 mins of pressure got the reward of a penalty on halfway. Will Parker managed a great touch find into the corner and Charlie Bye threw in at the lineout, secured the ball and scored a well-worked try from the rolling maul. ORs missed the conversion but it was game on. The ORs smaller pack was showing huge desire and Ben Thompson continued to lead from the front with ferocious tackling and competing at the breakdown. Dorking started to get quick ball and assert some dominance in the back line and for 10 mins ORs defended bravely.
A lapse of concentration as the ball came out of the scrum led to Dorkings next try however within 5 mins ORs were attacking again. The ball moved down the line to Jack Hoad who put on the burners and beat his opposite man. With just the full-back to beat Jack put in a beautiful cross-field chip for Will Parker to score under the posts. The ebb and flow continued as now Dorking and it was not Dorking on the front foot, 10 mins to half time and Dorking had all the possession. Under huge pressure on their own line ORs are deemed offside from the exit kick and Dorking take a quick tap to capitalise on OR’s lapse in concentration to score an easy 5 points in the corner. Again ORs bounced back and on the stroke of halftime, Finn Goodrich picks a fantastic line and scored under the posts.
At 19-19 at halftime, the ORs were going to have to dig deep to keep going against a larger Dorking squad and the first ten minutes was all Dorking pressure. Then the tide started to turn and the green and blue jerseys started dominating the collisions. Ben Thompson again delivered a crushing blow to the Dorking morale with a huge tackle followed by a successful jackal to win the turnover.
The next 15 mins were all Reigatians and, as the crowd cheered every big hit and slick pass, they seemed to grow in confidence. A scrum on the halfway, a zippy pass from James Buttle at 9 set the back line going, Will Parker breaks a tackle and draws the full-back before a perfect pass for Jack Hoad to finish from the right wing.
The game continued to go from end to end and the Dorking back line always looked threatening, however the ORs pack continued to dominate the breakdown and it wasn’t long before continued pressure led to a well-worked overlap for Adam Bostel to score with 8 mins to go. With their large bench unloaded and some relatively fresh legs, Dorking started to run from everywhere against an ORs team who were running on empty.
They dug deep and defended well but couldn’t keep out Dorking who scored with 1 min to go. 31-26, the restart is gathered well by the Dorking winger and he breaks two tackles, the crowd can feel how hard the ORs players are working to defend the Dorking waves of attack and start to really get behind the home team.
Dorking break down the right-hand side, Lucas Flatt makes yet another tackle but the ball is still alive, the Dorking flyer has one more pass to score but it doesn’t go to hand, the ball goes straight in to touch and the crowd cheers a fantastic win from a Colts team made of mostly Under 17s. Proof that very often “it’s not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog.”
Final Score OR 31 Dorking 26
