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Dorchester continued their promising start to the season with a hard fought and closely contested win against Trowbridge. Some games are notable for their free flowing rugby, this will be remembered for some heroic defending by Dorchester in the last 10 minutes when their hosts camped out on their 5 meter line and were held up on the try line no fewer than 6 times. The game started out in promising fashion for Dorchester after their trip north. Tuesday nights training session on rucking and driving certainly paid dividends, with Dorchester back row of Chris Lawton, James Bickley and Connor Skelland securing plenty of turnover ball. With the ball being used sensibly Dorchester gained ground although Trowbridge defended well and after a period of sustained pressure during which Callum King narrowly missed a penalty from 35 metres out. Dorchester were finally rewarded when a slick set piece move from a scrum saw King on the loop take the ball at pace and dive over, unfortunately the conversion kick drifted wide. The rest of the first period saw play concentrated in Trowbridges half, although Dorchester were unable to make their possession count in the form of any additional scores. The first five minutes of the second half continued well for Dorchester as they looked to impose themselves, however Trowbridge had other ideas, and instead slowly took control of the game and it was their turn to apply the pressure. This was greatly aided by Dorchesters inability to win any scrums in the second half (a fact that will surely be worked at this week!). With the host gaining vital territory it seemed only a matter of time before Trowbridge crossed the line, unfortunately they seemed to lose the ball in contact or concede turnover. With the minutes ticking by they laid siege to the Dorchester line and with the forwards led well by Charlie Harries, but time and time they were driven back or held up, with some timely interventions by Bickley, King, Freddie Withnall-Dunne and Harry Smith. The relief on the Dorchester players and the disappointment on the Trowbridge players faces was all too obvious when the final whistle was blown. This was a game played in great spirit by both sides who are to be congratulated on their attitude. Ben Rubrecht made a promising debut at hooker and looks a good addition to the playing staff. Skills Coach Martyn Peel said after the game “that he challenged the spectators to name one time when they have seen a team defend with such determination as Dorchester did today” Team: Bickley, Harries, Holland, Jessup,King, Lawton, Madgwick, Peel, Skelland, Smith, Trenchard, Vallance, Withnall-Dunne, Fry, Hallett, Ford, Rubrecht. Dorchester 21 Weymouth 0 Dorchester Under 13`s carried on with their winning start to the season after taking the honours at the first local derby with Weymouth 21-0. Sickness depleted the Dorchester squad to just 16 players which also meant some playing out of position. This however was not evident in the match as straight from the Weymouth kick-off the pint-sized revelation at hooker – Charlie Lake, gathered the ball, beat 2 advancing Weymouth forwards, spun it out to the backs who ran the try in via the in-form centre Jake Ralston which was duly converted by Max Buckler. The next restart saw yet more great interplay between the Dorchester forwards and backs and within 3 minutes Dorchester had scored again in the form Ralston with Buckler converting, making it 14-0 after 6 minutes. This second score woke up the Weymouth team and for the rest of the first half it became a battle of the forwards with both packs losing possession due to them not being able to use the ball in the mauls. After half time the Weymouth team began the second half with gusto but some tremendous tackling by Dorchester snuffed out any sustained attack. The final try began from some good work by the debutant flanker - Edward Matts, who secured the loose ball from a ruck and off-loaded to Ralston on the wing who sprinted 40 metres to score his third try. Buckler was successful with the conversion and the score stayed at 21-0 until the final whistle. Both sets of forwards worked tirelessly throughout the game and were fairly evenly matched however it was Dorchesters` superiority in the three quarters that proved to be the telling factor. Tries - Jake Rolston 3, Cons - Max Buckler 3 Squad - R.White, C.Lake, J.Underhill, M.Gaston, M.Harrison, J.Comben, M.Llewellyn, A.Harris, T.Landon, M.Buckler, J.Ralston Capt, J.Perry, A.Frampton, S.Scott, E.Matts, T.Vanzyl Dorchester Under 13`s got of to a winning start to the season after beating Chard 39-5. After cancelling the first 2 games of the season due to the lack of numbers this away fixture was the ideal curtain raiser. Straight from the kick off, the Dorchester forwards dominated the loose ball providing a good platform for the backs to capitilise on Chards weak defence. The first score was not long in coming through a scything run by centre Jake Ralston whose angle of running totally outfoxed the Chard backline, before scoring under the posts. This was duly converted by the fly half – Max Buckler which was his first time outing for Dorchester. More of the same followed with excellent work from the front five who secured the ball for the back row to continually cross the gain line and then set the backs up for yet more excellent interplay making 19-0 after a third of play. Changes were made to enable all of the squad to take part in the match but this failed to disrupt the Dorchester team and they continued to pile pressure on the Chard defence. A well worked back-row move from the Chard scrum within Dorchesters` half produced their only score of the game but rather than dampen the Dorchester spirit it spurred them on to score 4 further tries in the last third which was nothing less that the team deserved ably led by Josh Younger in the forwards who had an outstanding game alongside the backs who got on the scoresheet. Tries - Jake Rolston 4, Max Buckler 1, Josh Perry 1 & Zach Patton 1, Cons - Max Buckler 2 Squad - R.White, C.Lake, J.Underhill, M.Gaston, M.Harrison, J.Rainback, J.Younger, A.Harris, T.Landon, M.Buckler, J.Ralston Capt, J.Perry, A.Frampton, S.Scott, Z.Paton, J.Comben, M.Llewellyn, T.Vanzyl |
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