Dagenham 54 - 7 Stowmarket

Dagenham experienced their first taste of victory in Regional 2 Anglia this weekend, running out 54-7 winners over Stowmarket in the Saturday heat. The tone was set in the early exchanges, a thumping tackle from Earl Gorman lead to the turnover and Dagenham possession, however handling errors at key times denied Dagenham initial opportunities to score. Ill-discipline then enabled Stowmarket to have a prolonged period of possession, attacking the Dagenham line through their forward carries but being denied repeatedly by tenacious defence. Once Dagenham regained control of the ball, a great break from Jermaine Darkwa down the wing enabled man-of-the-match Lewis Pruce to pick a good line off the ensuing breakdown; handing off the final two defenders to score under the posts. Tommy Cameron added the conversion for a 7-0 lead. It wasn’t long before Dagenham extended the score, this time Pruce acting as provider; making a half-break before offloading to Cameron, who showed excellent footwork and pace to beat the covering defence to score a converted try of his own. The Dagenham defence continued to smother Stowmarket, causing a number of forced errors. The next score came after a muscular break from Nat Farrell down the right wing, with quick ball and accurate passing finding Daniel Libby on the left touchline. The second row managed to get an arm through the cover tackle to offload to the supporting Jordan Darkwa for the score. Cameron continued his form with the boot, converting the try for a 21-0 halftime lead.

Dagenham made a fast start to the second half, with Cameron throwing a miss pass into the path of Gorman, who managed to volley the ball on and benefited from a kind bounce to score. The following period saw errors from both sides, with the oppressive heat beginning to take its toll. Dagenham were soon reduced to 14 men after a yellow card for a deliberate knock on. They again defended their line imperiously, but soon found themselves losing another player to the sin bin for repeated team infringements. Excellent defending from the forward pack continued to repel Stowmarket however and won back possession. Unfortunately, however, a loose offload in their own half gifted the Stowmarket centre an easy run in and conversion, bringing the score to 28-7. This seemed to be the impetus Dagenham needed to refocus and proceeded a ruthless period of possession. Dagenham immediately claimed the restart kick via good chase from Libby, which set the platform to attack. Another powerful carry from centre Pruce committed multiple defenders before he managed to slip away the offload to partner Gorman to score his second of the match. Dagenham soon backed it up with another try, this time industrious flanker Charlie Wilkinson bursting through the defensive line and giving the pass for Nat Farrell to run the score in. With Stowmarket’s resolve appearing to wilt in the afternoon heat, Dagenham continued to turn the screw. From a strong scrum, the ball was spun wide and a clever backs move opened the space for Liam Power Jr. to race through the gap and score from halfway. Dagenham’s final try came from a fantastic break by Jermaine Darkwa, breaking the line from his own half to beat several defenders before laying off a classy offload to captain Farrell to have the final say. Cameron completed his almost-perfect day from the boot to leave the score at 54-7. The coaching staff will be pleased by a cohesive attacking and defensive display this week, with superior fitness showing through in order to achieve the full 5 league points. Dagenham will be keen to continue the momentum ahead of next weeks fixture away to Woodford.