Dorchester faced their first real test of the season at North Dorset on Saturday and can have no complaints as they were blown away by an opening fifteen minutes of high intensity, high tempo rugby.

Both sides went into the match without key players but it was clear from the start that the hosts handled the absences much better than the visitors could. With second row Robert Hodges in the sin bin North Dorset took full advantage of the extra man and were soon three tries to the good. A conversion and a penalty meant that Dorchester trailed by twenty points with less than a quarter of the game gone. Dorchester, with the experienced Russell Eversden much to the fore, finally adjusted to the pace required and the rest of the half was more evenly contested. There was, however, no further scoring.

North Dorset had the benefit of the stiff breeze in the second half and as a result they were able to dominate territorially. The visitors did manage to win a reasonably supply of ball but badly missed Lee Harvey’s presence in midfield and lacked their normal sharpness and penetration. Their only score came after stern defence had turned the ball over on the Dorchester line and Matt Read and James Baker combined to run the full length of the pitch, Baker touching down under the posts. Adam Jones added the conversion points to give Dorchester hopes of a comeback. The hopes were to come to nothing as the hosts forced their way over the line from close range for try number four. The successful conversion ended the day’s scoring.

A harsh lesson for Dorchester but with players returning there are still many reasons to be optimistic for the rest of the season. Next up it is old adversaries Devizes at Coburg Road.
           

Acheson Construction man of the match: Russell Eversden.

Team:  Richards (Warren HT), Chalker, Borries (Bamlet HT), Hodges, King, Hawkins (Elliott 60), Miller, Eversden, Gannaway, Jones, Baker, Norton, J Gower, T Cuzens, Read.