WEYMOUTH II 12

ELLINGHAM & RINGWOOD 20

DESPITE a spirited performance Weymouth Seconds' new Dorset & Wilts Three South season started with a defeat at the hands of Ellingham & Ringwood.

The Seasiders, buoyed by the arrival of a new playing strip, sponsored by Universal Engineering, attacked from the off and were awarded a scrum deep in the Ellingham half.

Scrum-half Adam Poole made a run towards the opponents' line after the scrum had been won and crossed the whitewash to score under the posts. Fly-half Nathan Allan added the extras.

Ellingham & Ringwood responded with a penalty on the Weymouth 22, which was converted to bring the score to 7-3 in the home side's favour.

The penalty score seemed to add new energy to the visitors and after some good play in the middle ofthe park they were rewarded with a try in the far corner, but the extras were missed.

As both sides looked for the opening, handling errors were becoming frequent, and from one of the resulting penalties Ellingham & Ringwood crossed the line for a unconverted try.

Weymouth made nine changes at half-time to give all of their newly recruited players some game time.

The match remained static for most of the second half, with missed chances from both sides and some good displays of defending.

Then, with 20 minutes left, the away side were awarded a scrum five-metres out, from which they scored a try that was duly converted.

The Seasiders continued to attack and with five minutes to go debutant Gregg McKinstry attacked the Ellingham line and scored an unconverted try.

Weymouth Man of the Match: Adam Poole