Dorchester made it three wins in a row, defeating Frome in a niggly and generally in a bad tempered match on Saturday.
In near perfect conditions Frome kicked off and Dorchester, to the surprise of their loyal supporters, started much the better of the two sides. Rich Bament hit the post with a long range penalty attempt before Joe Gower escaped from the Frome defenders and scored under the posts. James Baker saw his conversion attempt charged down.
Having got their noses in front Dorchester appeared to relax and let the visitors back into the game. A penalty from the Frome right winger was quickly followed by a converted try and the visitors had a five point lead. The home scrum was in fine form with loose head John Warren giving his opposite number a torrid time but the Dorchester line out, normally very solid, was to struggle all afternoon. The hosts briefly retook the lead when Rich Bament’s break and offload to fly half Ben Hunt allowed the later to touch down for try number two. This time Baker made no mistake with the conversion attempt but a second Frome penalty soon after had the visitors leading by a single point at the break.
Frome started the second half determined to extend their lead and it required a couple of last ditch tackles to keep them out. Dorchester’s cause was not helped when Ben Hunt had to leave the field due to an injury, forcing major readjustments to the home back division. Finally the hosts were able to escape from their own half and Baker was given the chance to retake the lead when they were awarded a penalty in front of the posts. The winger’s successful kick giving Dorchester the lift they needed to go on and win the match.
The niggles eventually lead to a large scale brawl which saw two Frome players and Dorchester’s Rich Bament dispatched to the bin for ten minutes. Aware that they needed to take advantage of the extra man Dorchester laid siege to the Frome line. Twice they appeared to have scored only for the referee to rule that the ball had been held up but the pressure had to tell and it was fullback Matt Read who took the reverse pass and crossed to the right of the posts.
With both sides back to full strength Frome now had to chase the game and when the fullback’s chip ahead fell into the hands of Sam Prior the air of anticipation was evident. Prior did not disappoint, taking on, and beating, half a dozen defenders before crashing over for the bonus point try. Baker was unable to convert either of the tries but with time running out it appeared that Dorchester had enough of a cushion.
To their credit Frome fought back and an unconverted try in the left hand corner appeared to have earned them a losing bonus point with the restart called the last play. Frome however lost control of the kick off and, with everybody expecting the ball to be kicked off the pitch, Dorchester No 8 Alistair Vivian found himself with the ball and nobody between him and the Frome try line. He duly scampered in for the try and Frome were denied the point they probably deserved.
Acheson Construction man of the match: John Warren
Team: Warren, Miners (Chalker 50), Cottell (Bamlet 65), Prior, Makepeace, J Gower, Newsam, Vivian; D Gower, Hunt (Caines 50); Baker, Bamlet, Harvey, Dixon; Read;
