At Last - Rugby Returns

On a beautiful sunny afternoon in the Surrey Hills Cam and Dorking renewed what is becoming a preseason tradition when 1s and 2s attempted to put 18 months of inactivity behind them as they both prepared for the new season.
The 2s started proceedings with Cam fielding a number of last season's Academy players and we saw a somewhat scrappy performance by the black and ambers which resulted in them turning round after 30 mins 14-0 adrift.
However the second 30 saw a dramatic improvement with Cam looking much sharper and also fitter and we saw Harry Johnson soon put the visitors on the scoreboard when he charged down a kick in the Doeking red zone and recovered quickly to dot down.
Then in less than 5 mins Cam were level when again great pressure at a lineout on the Dorking 22 saw the ball bounce loose and #2 Musa reacted quickest and raced over and bring the scores level.
This clearly stung the Dorking side who were soon ahead again with another 7 pointer but almost from the restart we had the sight of Charlie Hannan collect the ball on half way and his pace and skill was just too much for the home defence as he flew over under the posts to even the score once again.
With just a few minutes on the clock we saw Cam, through Musa, who was now playing on the wing, charge upfield deep into the Dorking 22 and the ball was recycled several times before a clever chip by #10 Kieron saw Harry Johnson follow up and again dot down for the 4th try (his second). With Kieron expertly adding the extras in each case on a day when kicking was not straightforward the final score was 28-21.
Now was the turn of the 1s and unfortunately, as with the earlier game the first half saw them struggle and Dorking, who were much more streetwise took advantage of poor defence out wide to take a 24-0 lead at half time.
The second period was much improved for the black and ambers and much better tight work plus what seemed to be superior fitness levels saw them much more competitive and they were unlucky on several occasions not to score but at least 'nilled' the home side in this final period.

Overall a great day for all of us who have missed watching 'proper' rugby and it should probably be noted that neither side successfully took advantage of the new kicking into the opposition 22 rule although the drop out under the posts when the ball is held up was utilised on several occasions.
The performances from both black and amber sides were clearly a bit rusty and it is hoped that for the next 2 games we will see a full complement both at training and the final warm up games as the results this season are probably even more important than normal seasons with alleged changes in the league structure coming for 22/23 so final league positions will be key.
It must have been great for Big Sam and Dave Dunsby to see how well their boys from last years Academy performed and despite decent performances from most of the 30+ who turned up personally I was very pleased to see the return of The Warrior who, while nowhere near full fitness managed to put in a couple of really good shifts.