Clifton cannot turn pressure into points

The fixture scheduling of the league presented us with another difficult fixture after our trip interesting to Henley a week ago

Our visitors this week are second place Dorking who are the surprise side of the season having been promoted from National Three London at the end of the last campaign. We visited them in late October and in very open game in which Eighty Three points were scored including twelve tries.

One would have expected this game to follow the same pattern but it was not to be and instead we were presented with a contest in which defensive qualities shined through.

Clifton showed why they are a much improved side since the earlier meeting and the result was a highly entertaining and tight game which would have been appreciated by the rugby connoisseurs .

Our visitors had played towards the farm in the first half and took an early lead when fly half Cameron Pimlow kicked an early penalty. Dorking were the better side in the early exchanges constantly moving the ball through the hands. They however could not find a way through our mid field of Dan Wells and Sam Harrison who have developed into a quality centre pairing both in attack and defence in recent weeks both in defence and attack.

We survived being reduced to fourteen men when Charlie Foley was sent to the sin bin but within three minutes of his return he levelled the scores with a penalty

From the restart Dorking kick deep down the left wing and were awarded a penalty.. Scrum half Will Crow took a quick penalty which caught Clifton napping. Crow’s quick thinking enabled flanker Ollie Edwards to cross near the posts and Pimlow converted,

Lock Gavin Curry probably having his best game since joining the club last summer created our response when he seized a loose ball and galloped towards the try line before passing to wing Jordan Kelly who crossed for an unconverted try.

Foley landed his second penalty to put us in front at tithe start of the second half to put us a point in front.

We then proceeded to dominate the third quarter of the game keeping Dorking penned near their own line. As hard as we tried we could not find a way through their defence which was well organised by skipper Armand Roux.

They conceded a string of penalties some of which appeared to be in kickable range but instead went in search of a five pointer kicking for the corner hoping for a catch and drive from the resultant line out. On one occasion we took a tap in front of the posts and that came to nothing. Frustrating for the coaches but at least the side was playing in a positive vein matching our visitors in all areas.

With the game going into the final quarter Dorking launched their only concerted attack of the half and winger Mark Duxbury found space on the wide outside to cross for unconverted try.

We went in search of a five pointer and it looked at one stage if one of our forwards had crossed the line but he was pulled back for obstruction.

Dorking were relieved when the final whistle went they were relieved to come away with victory and some of their supporters thought the better side were on the wrong side

This was a game we should have won but at least we took a losing bonus point. Lessons will have been learnt from this game which hopefully will be of use in future weeks.