Dorchester 'A'cademicals 10 vs Swanage and Wareham 2's 0
1. Ross 'Robo prop' Mclaren
2. Simon 'The Codfather' Pengelly
3. Dave 'Bovvered' Cottell
4. Dan 'England u16' Underhill
5. Adam 'Silent but violent' Makepeace
6. Rob 'Bulking up to be a prop again' Woods
7. Stefan 'The body' Pittman
8. Tony 'Dog house' O'Connell
9. Luke 'The Emperor Master' Weller
10. Tom 'Banana kick' Clifford
11. Dudley 'Run Forrest' Morris
12. Joe 'Speed no more' Gower
13. Hugh 'Blitz defence' Pryce
14. Jamie 'Land lover' Morgan
15. Dave 'Squeal like a pig' Clarke
16. Dan 'The Apprentice' Cree
17. Rulzy
18. Alex 'Alan Whicker' Duncan
19. James 'One wrist' Baker
20. Bill 'Wind-up' Gates
Back in the day we played Swan's in a game that was the making and breaking of us. Once again they cancelled their 2's game knowing the quality of player that we would be able to field, and being a derby game their priority was not to lose to us.
In the first game we dominated the first half but couldn't score, then when they got two quick tries at the start of the second half we cracked as a team, showing no grit or determination we turned on ourselves and disappointed, losing not just the game but also several senior players who decided to hang up their boots rather then play on.
Since this game though how we have changed only losing to Sherborne at home, and we've been involved in one score difference games against Bridport, Fordingbridge and South Wilts whilst on our travels: We are now a much closer unit with everyone prepared to put their bodies on the line and that's how this game was won.
The first 20 saw some truly dreadful rugby as you'd expect given the long lay off and damp conditions but gradually Dorchester began to edge the midfield battle clearly having the better backs, whilst the solid set piece display by the forwards gave them plenty of ball to knock on. Swans were always a threat though, and only good defending by all kept them at bay. Having the fitter forwards - a wonder in itself' the game plan was clear, move them about with quick ball, have a go and back yourself (but not to kick the ball away as the Captain did on his way to a dick of the day performance).
Two key incidents in the first half were Dave Clarke dislocating his shoulder, and the quick thinking of Luke and Joe who having taken a quick penalty, ignored the overlap on the left as the Swans hurried across but cut back inside on the right so Joe could score. Further tries were denied by last-ditch tackling and final balls not going to hand, so 5 - 0 at half time meant it was still anyone's game. Swans throwing caution to the wind brought on the big guns but showing patience is a virtue and what goes around comes around Dorchester stuck to the task at hand and only the poor placement of the referee meant he missed Alex scoring by the post as he couldn't see the grounding of the ball. However with both teams making a go of it was Dorchester who struck again with Dan Underhill getting good support from the back row and being driven over to make the score 10 - 0.
Clearly unable to breach our defence Swans turned to throwing punches, biting and eye gouging (well at least one of them did), and any good possession Swans did have they turned over by conceding daft penalties. With time running out the referee gave repeated warnings to both Captains to control their teams, before Bill Gates found himself at the wrong end of an attempted haymaker - only for a 30 man chest puffing incident to erupt. When the dust settled the punch throwing, biting and eye gouging Swan laid on the floor crying for some unknown reason and the ref blew for fulltime. Honours even for this season, bring on next year!
