In a match where Havant seemed to have won it, then completely lost control and then actually did win it we witnessed a quality finish from wing Will Perry to grab victory with the very last play of the match. Poor discipline served both sides badly with three red cards and a number of yellows really dictating who had dominance at any given moment. The Dorking ‘X’ feed blamed their own lack of discipline for their defeat and there’s a partial truth to that but great finishing from Brandon Vince, running good lines for both his tries, and Will Perry, as lethal as ever for his brace, made a real difference.

We saw fourteen tries in total, seven for both sides, with conversions missed also a determining factor. The Knight brothers converted four of Havant’s seven tries with Dorking’s Tom Hardwick only managing two from his seven chances. The wind made goal-kicking very difficult.

Dorking kicked off playing with the strong wind and were almost immediately on the scoreboard with big flanker Will Scholes going over close to the posts and Tom Hardwick converting. Havant got their first real possession soon after from a penalty and subsequent lineout but conceded their own penalty which Dorking kicked to touch close to Havant’s line. Havant held out and with the help of two quick free-kicks, got to the half-way line.

At this point a long eight-minute break for a Dorking injury (player ok and gave the thumbs-up from the stretcher) helped Havant regroup as they hadn’t really showed any continuity so far. Wes Dugan made good ground with a mini-break and a penalty was kicked to touch by Jacob Knight. The ball was claimed by Ross Parkins (who took plenty of lineout ball throughout). A rhino-like run from Jack Colbourne gained ground and a subsequent penalty was kicked to 5m once more, with the Dorking no. 7 Tom Bloomer (more about him later) sent to the bin. Angus Southon got close. Havant tapped another penalty and a good line from Brandon Vince got him over the line. The conversion was missed making it 5-7 on 18’.

Havant were on a roll and dominating. A 40m run from Will Perry took Havant to the visitor’s ‘22’. Another penalty was kicked to the 5m line and Sean Shepherd crashed over to make it 10-7 on 22’. From the kick-off another good charge from Jack Colbourne set up good position and wing Chris Buckett gained ground before his tackler was penalised. Again, the ball went to touch. Havant nearly scored with (I think) Wes Dugan’s potential try being disallowed. But Havant did soon score through an excellent line from Brandon Vince to make it 17-7 to Havant on 25’ after Joel Knight’s successful conversion.

Dorking had little ball and Havant were dominating. With fourteen men they were struggling to keep the Havant forwards under control. After what seemed like ten minutes they got into Havant’s half and a penalty got kicked to touch. After some pressure Dorking got the left-wing Caleb Falloon over in the corner, making it 17-12 on 34’. Dorking were back at it. A great high ball take from Dylan Evans which he ran back well gave Havant respite, but soft tackling made an easy score for centre Theo Williamson soon after. Hardwick converted to make it 17-19 on 36’. Havant were the better side for most of the half. Dorking were leading. But Havant had time to grab the lead back before the break. Another run from Jack Colbourne resulted in a high tackle. Jacob Knight kicked to 30m. VEO lost contact, but I am reliably informed that a strong lineout maul led to Ben Holt confounding the Dorking defence for a superb try. Jacob Knight converted to make it 24-19 at half-time.

The second half took on almost unnatural quality at times with red cards, rampant scoring and optional defence. Backchat with the referee also featured and he’d clearly had enough of it. Havant had an early penalty chance and now, playing with the wind, it seemed a good option to go for posts. The penalty was mishit but Havant were soon back on the attack with a break from Dylan Evans (again I think it was him) led to a score but it was disallowed for a forward pass. At this point the Dorking scrum-half was yellow-carded for a technical offence and was then immediately given a red for backchat. Dorking seemed to be losing all control and Havant really should have been closing out the game.

They did score. Ben Holt made a really good break and then wisely kicked, using the wind, to get his side 6m from the tryline. Havant retrieved the ball from the visitor’s lineout. Joel Knight broke on the outside and put the ball through to a fast-moving Liam Charlson who went on a small arc back towards the posts. Joel Knight converted to make it 31-19 and it seemed that Havant were easing to victory.

A yellow card for Ben Holt for not-releasing bought the numbers back to fourteen each. Dorking scored three unanswered tries in ten minutes to reclaim the lead with first No8 Harry Elbrow scoring after lots of goal-line pressure. Joel Knight was then ‘red-carded’ for what seemed like a technical offence, followed by backchat. The second and third tries in the mini-bout of Dorking scoring came from fly-half Hardwick with Williamson claiming his second. None were converted which would make a big difference come the end of the match. Score now 31-34 after 69’.

Havant needed something. Two minutes later, Will Perry provided it. The ball fortuitously came into his grasp inside Havant’s half and he found a beautiful gap made by a combination of his pace and foresight, haring to the Dorking try-line without anyone touching him. Jacob Knight converted making it 38-34 on 71’. Not long after Dorking replied through Thomas Howe, again unconverted. The match had lost all structure. 38-39 with three minutes left.

From the kick-off Havant won a penalty. A penalty goal would likely win the match, but Jakob Knight couldn’t get it over in still challenging kicking conditions. The Dorking No 7 Bloomer earned himself a red card, which might have been awarded earlier according to some accounts. . Havant with numerical advantage had a chance. They secured the ball, Will Owen (on as a replacement) punched a hole in the defence and the backs set up a fizzing Will Perry who raced over in the corner for the winning score. The conversion miss didn’t matter and Havant had the win, 43-39.

It means that Havant once again move back to 8th position after Guernsey’s loss at home to Canterbury. There’s still a chance of a top-half finish if the side can win at least one of the final two matches. It also makes it six wins from the last six home games and seven from the last eight. Hooks Lane is great at the moment - even on the VEO screen! It’s become a fortress since Christmas, after some challenging games earlier in the season. As Angus Southon said in my interview with him a while ago: ‘Winning Solves Everything’. (Doug Miller)

Other League Matches

Guernsey 29 - 33 Canterbury
Bury St Edmunds 33 - 28 Henley Hawks
Esher 78 - 7 Oxford Quins
London Welsh 15 - 22 Barnes
Sevenoaks 28 - 31 Oundle
Westcombe Park 52 – 31 Old Albanian