Dorchester welcomed bottom of the table Minety to Coburg Road on Saturday but any thoughts of an easy day were soon dispelled by the visitors’ wholehearted commitment.
The hosts started well and were soon ten points up. Second Row Lee King forced his ample frame over the line for the first try before Tom Gower, playing on the wing, squeezed in at the left hand corner. Neither try was converted. The visitors were struggling to win any quality possession but they made the most of what they had with both centres looking dangerous. They were also very aggressive at the breakdown, consistently disrupting Dorchester’s rucking.
Halfway through the first period Minety cut the deficit when their fly half kicked a simple penalty. Then, following a strong break by the inside centre, the visitors camped on the Dorchester line until they created a huge overlap on the left and crossed for a try. The conversion was missed but the interval arrived with Dorchester leading by only two points.
After some hash words at halftime, Dorchester looked a little more composed at the start of the second half. Fly half Adam Jones cruised through for try number three, again unconverted, and Minety appeared to run out of steam.
Rob Hodges touched down for a try on his 150th appearance before Lee Harvey bagged a brace and full back Matt Read scored the Dorchester’s seventh and last try. Adam Jones converted the last three tries and also kicked a penalty to complete the scoring.
The news that Frome had beaten North Dorset meant that Dorchester had taken over at the top of the league for the first time this season. They travel to North Dorset next week and with a trip to Frome also looming their promotion credentials will be severely tested during November.
Acheson Construction man of the match: Todd Richards.
Team: Borries, Chalker, Richards, Hodges, King, Dixon, Newsam, Hawkins; D Gower, Jones; Baker, Cuzens (Norton 50), Harvey, T Gower; Read;
