DORCHESTER 17

WOODEN SPOON 31

A good crowd came down to Coburg Road to watch Dorchester’s last pre-season friendly against an invitation side from Wooden Spoon.

The side, captained and coached by ex-England player Andy Gomarsall, was made up of players from Swanage & Wareham, Puddletown, Weymouth and some of Dorchester’s squad of players.

On the night Dorchester’s firsts were handed the Wooden Spoon on after their 31-17 defeat.

The game was played at a frantic pace early on with plenty of mistakes being made by both sides. Dorchester got the early score through Callum King who burst through the defence and shrugged off some tackles to touch down out wide.

King proved instrumental again, scorer turning provider, when he broke the line to feed Etienne Peach who ran away from the covering defenders to score. Jamie Morgan was successful this time with the conversion making it 12-0.

However Wooden spoon hit back quickly when they managed to retain the restart and their flanker scored under the posts. The try was converted to cut Dorchester’s lead to only five points.

Dorchester scored their third try of the half when King again broke the line and fed Matt Read who had an easy run into the corner.

Wooden Spoon had the final say in the half with the open side flanker crashing over from close range for his second of the game. The conversion was unsuccessful making the half time score 17-12.

Wooden Spoon scored three unanswered tries in the second half, the first from the forwards, who battered over the base of a ruck.

The second was a fantastic score from Dorchester second team skipper, representing the wooden spoon, Rob Parker who after being released in space out wide was able to cross in the corner after beating several defenders with powerful running.

Wooden Spoon wrapped up the victory when Tom Gower showed great tenacity to force his way over the try line, with a successful conversion.

Despite a spirited fight from Dorchester to claw themselves back into the game they were unable to prevent Wooden Spoon's victory

Post match Andy Gomarsall, an ambassador for the charity, thanked the club for hosting the match and commended his players for the positive spirit in which they played and the great way they gelled together as a squad.

He spoke about the work the charity does for children with disabilities or facing disadvantage and thanked those who attended and raised over £500 during the evening.

n Dorchester’s first league game of the season is at home this Saturday against Bournemouth 3rd XV