A pre season friendly saw this local derby played out at Coburg Road. With both sides having trained over the summer months, it was Bridport who made early ground pretty much from the kick off when the home side transgressed and the visitors took the opportunity to take the points and an early lead, as it turned out this was their one and only visit to the scoreboard.
From this point the home side dominated pretty much every aspect of the game, and Bridport were left to feed off scraps of possession due to the constant pressure applied by Dorchester. From a series of pick and drives in Bridport’s22 finally saw prop Luke Doherty get the all importnat touchdown duly converted by John Bowden.
From the restart back came Dorchester, rucking very well securing plenty of turnover, just a little rustiness in execution prevented a further score, half time saw the home side lead 7-3.
The second half took much the same pattern, with the visitors on the back foot and unable to put together any meaningful phases of play, on the other side Dorchester looked to get the ball wide at every chance and tested Bridports defence which in fairness held up well. From a planned move from the back of a ruck Ben Clarke and Josh Younger combined well which allowed the latter to crash over for the games second try. Minutes later a further period of pressure saw Younger get his second of the game, Bowden added conversions for both touchdowns. The visitors did mount a period of pressure in the final 10 but were unable to find anyway through. The game ended with Dorchester deserved winners. Special mention to Zac Paton who played outside centre for the first time and played particularly well.
This result hopefully sets a marker for the rest of the season
