A season opener and near perfect conditions after some recent rains had softened the playing surface. No breeze and a large crowd swelled by a large number of Dorking supporters.
TJs have seen an influx of players for this N2E campaign and the worry is always will they gel quickly and perhaps more importantly not drop the ball too often. Such worries were never realised though as TJs had an excellent first half playing with gusto and desire throughout.
Curtis Barnes set the TJ tone with a speedy try after 6 minutes which Tom White failed to convert and TJs were off and running at 5-0. Dorking suffered a yellow card a few minutes later as they tried to stem the TJ tide and on 12 minutes Howard Packman pounced for his first try after a Tom White cross kick bounced off the Dorking defender into Packman's arms for him to stroll over. White converted and TJs let 12-0.
Dorking had their moments but they couldn't keep the pressure on for long enough and when TJs headed downfield again Dorking offended and White added a penalty. Confidence was growing in the TJ ranks and the offloads were starting to appear but a Dorking penalty closed the gap to 15-3.
But it was again TJs who threatened the most and after good approach work from the forwards the ball was spun left with a bounce where Packman slipped his hands through the tackle to offload to Barnes to score his second try of the game. White converted and TJs led 22-3.
A near repeat of forwards and backs making the hard yards and then the ball flying left again saw Packman over again and White converting for TJs to lead 29-3 and the try BP secured.
Dorking found a foothold after turning TJs over in midfield and a penalty to the corner saw the ball moved to midfield where the left wing sauntered through to score under the sticks to close to 29-10. A second yellow card for Dorking before the break wasn't capitalised on and TJs went in after 40 minutes with smiles all round.
The second half started just as brightly for TJs as again they made inroads down the right before the ball went left and as the Dorking defence closed Packman nudged the ball through for Barnes to regather and dot down. Whatever TJs were trying was coming off it seems and at 36-10 things were looking very good indeed.
But another defensive lapse allowed Dorking to again stroll through to close to 36-17. TJs had to turn to defence as Dorking kept coming and after another penalty TJs got a yellow card and a penalty try against and things were getting tight again at 36-24.
TJs though were not done and the defensive effort for Dorking was starting to tell and as they offended TJs went for goal. Although the first penalty was missed Sam Evans slotted three to edge TJs up to 45-31 after Dorking again found room for another try.
The game ebbed and flowed a little in midfield as Dorking went in search of a losing bonus point but despite their best efforts and TJ uncertainty around how to close the game out, they couldn't manage it.
So a final score of 45-31 and an excellent start to the season for TJs. Away to Colchester next week will be a stiff test for sure but the squad will have been buoyed with the inter-play and desire shown