Bishop's Stortford 1st XV 24 Dorking 6

Stortford started today's big game in positive mode - as they finished last week's match at Civil Service - but turned over the ball after about 5 minutes and one badly missed tackle provided the visitors with an opportunity to get onto the front foot. As befits their status as league leaders, Dorking took speedy advantage and, although Stortford's defence was now much stiffer, the visitors eventually forced a penalty under Stortford's posts and, only 8 minutes into the game, their scrumhalf kicked the goal for a 0-3 lead. Stortford bounced back strongly from the dropout and a period of sustained pressure saw the Dorking line being threatened twice, but stout defence by the visitors meant that the home side was happy to settle for an equalising penalty from skipper, Tom Coleman, when the opposition was penalised at a breakdown. There followed an extended period of thrust and counterthrust from both sides, but with neither really threatening the opponent's line. Thirty minutes into the game, however, a series of phases of powerful driving rugby from Dorking stretched Stortford's defence, forcing an offence at a breakdown under their posts, which resulted in another 3 points for the visitors and, potentially more seriously, a yellow card for the offender, Dave Aldam. Despite being down to 14 men, though Stortford pushed the visitors back into their own half and forced a crucial turnover after two powerful tackles from Hamish Irving and Sean Edwards. The counterattack was halted only via an offence at a breakdown by Dorking, producing a penalty for Stortford and a yellow card for the visitors' scrumhalf. The home side chose to kick for touch and it looked as if the opportunity had gone begging, when the ball was knocked on after clean ball had been won from the lineout. Not to be denied, however, Stortford pressured the defensive scrum and, when the ball was taken against the head, quick handling saw Wayne Child unmarked out wide. As a defender blocked off any pass, centre, John Stocker, put in a clever grubber kick, which gave his winger all the time and space he needed to gather the ball and touch down for the opening try. His skipper duly converted to take his side into a 10-6 lead after 35 minutes, which is how the first half finished.

Repeating the previous week's performance at CS Rugby, Stortford came out of the traps very quickly at the start of the second period and soon had the oposition under considerable pressure. Five minutes in and a longer grubber kick from Stocker created a strong position in the Dorking 22, which led to the ball being deemed to have been held up over the line, after a tremendous driving maul from the home pack. At the resultant 5 metre scrum, the Stortford pack further demonstrated its power by driving for the line, allowing number 8, Mark McCraith to touchdown for the side's second try, which Coleman duly converted to stretch the lead to 17-6. Some 10 minutes later and the whole Stortford team seemed to be fired with a sense of self-belief rarely seen this season, as hooker Declan Caulfield surged deep into the visitors' 22 off a short pass from Tom Coleman, from which a Dorking offence at the breakdown produced a yellow card for their second row. The now rampant Stortford pack needed no second invitation to call for another scrum and when the 7 man Dorking unit brought the scrum down, the referee had no hesitation in awarding a penalty try, which Coleman, of course converted to take his side out to a 24-6 lead after 15 minutes. Five minutes later and Stortford's swarming pursuit of a long kick out of defence by Stocker found the Dorking defence outnumbered and a penalty was awarded aginst them for failing to release at the breakdown. Although a lengthy kick, Coleman's attempt at goal comfortably made the distance, but the ball stayed stubbornly wide of the left-hand post, defying the strong cross breeze. The visitors were by no means ready to concede defeat and started to exert their own pressure, but Stortford were in no mood to be denied and surged back onto concerted attack. It took only one knock-on in midfield, however, for Dorking to turn defence into swift attack, as they broke out in one fluent move from their own 22 and forced Stortford to touch down over their own line after 30 minutes of the half. The visitors now embarked on several phases of powerful driving rugby, but the home side's defence was as committed as their attacking play had previously been and the threat was eventually repulsed. Stortford might even have scored a bonus point try close to the end, as the visitors' strong defence was overcome with a well-executed, and well-chased kick, which saw McCraith galloping for the line, only to be hauled down just short. Tha match, therefore finished at 24-6, a result which Stortford's wholehearted commitment to the cause, combined with some excellent 15-man rugby and a very low error count fully merited. Dorking, for their part were, understandably disappointed at such a defeat, but graciously admitted that their periodic handling and defensive shortcomings were largely due to the pressure exerted by a combination of good attacking skills and concerted power in all aspects of Stortford's play.