Dorking 65 Worthing Raiders 12

The relegation battle continued for Raiders this week with a difficult away fixture against third in the table Dorking.

A tough match, made more so with six players unavailable from the side that played the previous week. All six are key players that make a difference in every game they play. The missing players were Frank Taggart, Luke Wallace, Jimmy Staples, Luke Talbot, Harry Forrest and Jimmy Ilori. Replacing them were Josh Taylor, Ed Hartley, Austin Steele, George Gatford, Sam Myles and Alex Havers.

With Dorking still very much in contention for promotion the task ahead of Raiders was challenging. The visitors made a positive start and looked good with ball in hand. Jack Lake made a powerful break through the Dorking defensive line but the attack fizzled out as the hosts were awarded a penalty. Dorking scored a converted try in the sixth minute, but Raiders hit straight back with one of their own. From the restart the hosts were unable to collect the ball cleanly, the ball was moved swiftly through the hands until Jack Forrest made a trademark break, brushing aside attempted tacklers with ease before touching down. Charlie Spencer added the extras to level the scores at 7-7.

Raiders’ scrum was under pressure and more than once the hosts were warded a penalty for infringements at the set piece. Between the tenth and the twentieth minute Dorking ran in three more tries, only one of which was converted. With the score at 24-7 it didn’t look good for the visitors. However, Raiders continued to look dangerous when in possession and spent plenty of time deep in Dorking territory. At this time Raiders looked as good as Dorking. The visitors had the better of possession and territory for the next ten minutes.

The pressure eventually told when the hosts had a lineout on their own five-metre line. The throw missed its target, and Harrison Dakin was on hand to collect it and score unopposed. the conversion narrowly missed, and the score was now 24-12. In the thirty-fourth minute Raiders were again penalised at a scrum, this allowed Dorking to kick to touch a few metres from the try line. From the lineout they set up a driving maul and scored another try, this time converted to extend their lead to 31-12.

During the final six minutes of the half Raiders created two scoring chances, firstly through the backs when Charlie Spencer touched down in the corner only to have the try ruled out for a forward pass. Secondly, the forwards bombarded the Dorking try line through many phases but couldn’t get over the line. The half ended when Jack Forrest looked to have made a clean break, with the try line at his mercy, but a last ditch tap tackle stopped his momentum and the defence recovered to stamp out the threat.

Half time score: Dorking 31 Worthing Raiders 12