Bostik Premier League – Nyewood Lane – Saturday 8th December 2018

Attendance 398

With Sami about, this was never going to be an easy game.

Table-topping Dorking arrived with two former Rocks in their starting eleven. At first, it would be natural to single out target man Jason Prior as the one to watch. Over the course of five seasons with the Rocks, separated into two spells, Prior notched 108 goals in 155 games, including a quite remarkable hot streak of (on average) one goal per day for the month of April 2011 as the Rocks pushed for promotion from the Ryman Division One South.

His talents inevitably earned him interest from higher up, but Prior’s push for higher-level football never quite worked out. His time at AFC Wimbledon was disrupted by tendon damage and a murderous lunge by Hope Akpan (playing for Crawley) that broke his tibia and fibula. Periods at Dartford and Margate never bore fruit, and although he scored the goal that sent Havant & Waterlooville into the National League, Jason opted out of the additional travel and training required in the fifth tier, instead putting pen to paper at Dorking.

Though always a threat, Prior had never scored against the Rocks, despite playing against us in a Havant shirt on four occasions. But there was another danger man in the Dorking team – Sami El-Abd. A commanding centre-back, El-Abd’s leadership and defensive solidity have never been in doubt – he was a key part of the Ryman League’s stingiest defensive line in 2015-16, the Rocks shipping just 42 goals in 46 games.

But there is another facet to the towering defender. Something about El-Abd’s playing style brings Diego Costa to mind. They may play at opposite ends of the pitch, in contrasting football worlds, but Costa and El-Abd both tend to be at the heart of controversy and incident, getting in the face of opponents, grabbing and pushing. They are both worth watching from corners and free-kicks at either end, especially if you are a referee. El-Abd was sent off three times in his final season at the Lane, once for (allegedly) seizing an opponent’s testicles in a melee. The problem of suspensions (some overturned) was balanced out by a natural ability to make opponents lose their heads. At a rough estimate, a visiting player was booked or dismissed for an El-Abd incident once every four games or so. He got under their skin. He was easy to loathe for supporters of other clubs, and easy to love for us because – much like Diego Costa – his combination of ability and controversy made him a valuable part of the team.

In fact, after Jamie Howell took on a full-time post with Eastbourne in the summer of 2017, Sami was appointed as Rocks manager. By some niche measures, he is the most successful gaffer in our history: his one and only game in the dugout was a 4-0 win away at Worthing in pre-season. However, the penny soon dropped that Sami’s day job, working in the community for Brighton & Hove Albion, would not leave him with enough time to fulfil his managerial responsibilities. He stepped down before the full season began, leaving most fans to wonder how no-one had noticed this clash of responsibilities before he was appointed. It’s hard not to see this unexpected turmoil as one important reason for finishing rock-bottom after a single season in the National League South .

Back in the present, it was clear that Sami’s experience and grit had helped Dorking to the Bostik League summit. They were organised, effective, and good at applying pressure to the match officials. It only took eight minutes for El-Abd to get in the referee’s ear, and he wasn’t the only one. “That’s fucking cheap!” bellowed another Dorking player from eight yards away. The man in middle decided this was not dissent, setting the tone for the game, not much supported by his assistants, who had a combined age of at least 120.

It was a back-and-forth game, with Joe Tomlinson’s shot tipped onto the post, while Dan Lincoln made a good save from Prior. Then, as the bedraggled players began to look forward to fifteen minutes in the warm and dry, the crucial moment. Dan Lincoln, advancing from his box for a Neuer-style sweep, misjudged the ball. He grabbed it at the second attempt, with a Dorking player nearby, but the linesman was flagging. Had he handled outside the box, and was a clear goalscoring opportunity denied? Dorking’s McShane was nearby, but so was a Bognor player. Eight Dorking players crowded the referee, with El-Abd inevitably leading the appeals, and the referee barely had enough personal space to get the red card out of his pocket. Commentators from Rocks Radio and Dorking’s YouTube channel were equally astonished.

Sub stopper Ricardo Teixera made his debut in some thoroughly un-Portuguese weather, replacing Mason Walsh. It was hard to justify bringing off your most effective wide player when the team would have to play on the break for the rest of the game. There were worried noises as Dorking set up for the free kick, and the Wednesday Stand’s gloomiest regulars were proved correct, as Lewis Taylor smashed the free-kick past Teixera.

The offending linesman had to jog over to the sidelines to retrieve the ball at half-time, bringing him within range of the Wednesday, whose occupants made their opinions crystal clear. Meanwhile, on the tannoy, Lee was announcing some Premier League scores. He advised anyone who didn’t want to know the scores to move to somewhere where they couldn’t hear him – Selsey, perhaps.

In the second period, Calvin Davies came off with an ankle injury, while Teixera’s first outing was made more difficult by inadequate footwear, sending him scooting and sliding about like Bambi on ice.

Jimmy Muitt had a glorious chance to pinch a point in stoppage time, but his shot smashed straight into the legs of sprawling Slavomir Huk, and the referee rounded off his shaky performance by denying a strong appeal for handball.

Dorking seem to have the competitive edge you’d expect from a side competing at the top end. The win takes Sami and Jason three points clear at the top, while we dropped to tenth. With the Bostik League so very open, either (or both) of these teams could meet again in the promotion shake-up.