Dorking 29-21 Henley Hawks Men
By Alistair Beynon
Not for the first time this season, a spirted second half comeback fell short for Henley Hawks Men as they were outgunned by a strong Dorking side on Saturday.
It was a frustrating afternoon for Luke Allen's team as they left empty handed despite coming back from a 22-0 deficit, leaving themselves with too much of a mountain to climb in the second half to overturn the home sides advantage.
Playing in bright Autumn sunshine, it was Dorking who started the game on the front foot. Managing to gain possession from Henley straight from the kick-off, they patiently built pressure within the Henley 22, and were rewarded with the opening score on four minutes when the ball found wing Henry Barker in space out wide to dot down. Henry Anscombe converted well from the touchline and the home side were up and running at 7-0.
Henley were struggling to find a foothold in the game, despite a great opportunity which saw the ball knocked on with the try line beckoning. However, Dorking were gaining superiority at the set piece which gave them an excellent platform to continue to assert pressure, and they extended their lead on 13-minutes with a sensational team try that was finished by fullback Jack Thorn. Anscombe was narrowly wide with the extras, but Henley supporters were fearing the worst at 12-0.
Henley had further opportunities in the Dorking 22 close to the quarter mark, but just couldn't find the same clinical edge they had against Old Albanian a fortnight ago, and the chances went begging.
The game continued to be an arm wrestle with neither side able to trouble the scoreboard further until close to the half time whistle, when when powerful Number 8 Fin Osborne crashed over from close range to extend the hosts lead to 17-0. Anscombe was again off target with the conversion.
Dorking continued to press home the initiative straight after the re-start and secured their try bonus point on 47-minutes when flanker Tom Bloomer did well to evade the Henley defence and sprint to the line following a lovely offload from Osborne. Anscombe was again narrowly wide with the extras, but the home side had built a commanding 22-0 lead.
It was clear that Henley needed to make some adjustments, and with the introduction of Mike Cooke at fly half and moving Callum Jones to outside centre on the 50-minute mark clearly had the desired impact. Cooke managed to claim his own kick through to dot down for the Hawks first score of the game, which he duly converted, and Henley were finally up and running after several false starts.
However, Dorking are a quality outfit and refused to let the Hawks build any further momentum by continuing to dominate the set piece. They grabbed a fifth try with 15-minutes remaining when prop George Head powered over from close range to extend the lead to 29-7 with Anscombe's conversion.
It felt like an unassailable mountain for Allen's side to overcome, but to their credit, they continued to ask questions of the Dorking defence. Will Benning crashed over for the Hawks second following an excellent break from Jones through the midfield with 10-minutes remaining to give the scoreboard credibility at 29-14.
Henley had their tails up and kept plugging away, and were rewarded with a third try in injury time when Leo Webb went over in the corner following sustained pressure on the Dorking line. Cooke again converted from the touchline which brought an end to proceedings, with the home side holding firm to secure an excellent bonus point victory.
There will be very little time for Henley to lick their wounds as old rivals Esher come to town next Saturday, November 7th for another tough National League clash.
Henley Hawks
15. Molhoek, 14. Bowers, 13. Phillips, 12. Leach, 11. Bello, 10. Jones, 9. Webb, 1. Kinniburgh, 2. Rawcliffe, 3. Darlington, 4. Elsey, 5. Harrison, 6. Basil, 7. White, 8. Benning
Replacements: 16. Shpylka, 17. Collins, 18. Lowe, 19. Cooke, 20. Brown
Match photos courtesy of Rhiannon Jones available here.
