A hastily arranged friendly saw a new look Colts side take the field against a settled Wimborne side and for much of the first half it was the home side who had the upper hand. Dorchester failed to gather the kick off and within 30 seconds found themselves 5 – 0 down.
From the restart Dorchester exerted pressure but the well drilled home defence kept them out. A penalty for offside allowed John Bowden to reduce the difference, although both touch judges raised their flags the referee decided that it wasn’t successful (the first of many puzzling decisions!). Dorchester were starting to settle and with Josh Hosford causing havoc at the breakdown some parity in terms of possession and territory was returning. Wimborne showed how the game should be played with quick ball to some very good backs and they were soon 10-0 up.
Back came Dorchester from a penalty the resulting line out saw the visitors set up a rolling maul and when Number 8 Josh Younger peeled off he had Charlie Harries on his shoulder and with a simple off load Harries had the easiest of touch downs. The remainder of the half was evenly contested and the only other score was a Wimborne penalty.
The second half saw the visitors start much more brightly and although Wimborne defended well it was lack of match practice that prevented Dorchester adding to their total more than Wimborne defence or tactics. Although Wimborne added 12 more points the visitors had the majority of possession and territory.
A period of sustained activity in Wimbornes 22 saw the home side defend desperately and despite conceding 4 penalties and the referee issuing a general warning further digressions by the home side failed to see the referee use his yellow card. Minutes later on a counter attack Wimborne were offside a the visitors playing the advantage put flying winger Sam Scott away when the referee inexplicably called play back for Dorchester to take the penalty. To add insult the final play saw Wimborne touchdown again to give the winning majority a flattering look.
Dorchester can take great heart from this performance, and provided they can field a settle side when league action starts they should give a good account of themselves
