DORCHESTER 9 WIMBORNE 18

AS so often this season, Dorchester can take heart from yet another brave and committed performance but, in the end, they were denied even the consolation of a losing bonus point.

Often slow starters, the county town outfit tore into the opposition straight from kick-off, dominating possession and territory, so it was no surprise when Rich Bament opened the scoring with a penalty.

The hosts continued to have the upper hand in the set piece and, with the lineout also going well, Wimborne were forced to concede a string of penalties.

Bament extended the lead on 20 minutes with another well-struck three-pointer.

The visitors, on a rare visit to the Dorchester 22, opened their account with a simple penalty, but Bament quickly restored the six-point lead with his third successful kick of the day.

As half-time approached, Wimborne finally found a gap in the home defence, crossing for the opening try in the left-hand corner. The conversion was missed and so Dorchester led by a single point at the break.

Wimborne had the benefit of the breeze in the second period but if they thought that winning was inevitable they were going to be proved wrong.

The hosts defended solidly and it was only a fortuitous fly hack through which wrong-footed several Dorchester players and allowed Wimborne to score what turned out to be the winning try.

Injuries forced several changes to the Dorchester back division but still they refused to lie down.

A late penalty cost them the losing bonus point but they finished the match on the attack, showing plenty of spirit and skill in the process.

Dorchester: Cottell, Chalker, Miners, L King, Makepeace, McQuillan, Newsam, Sergison, D Gower, Bament, Clark, Harvey, Deakin, Lynch, M Fry. Replacements all used: Evans, Broadbent, Morgan.

Man of the Match: Mark Sergison