SUTTON BENGER 10

WEYMOUTH 46

WEYMOUTH set up a quarter-final clash with rivals Puddletown after hammering Sutton Benger in the Dorset & Wilts Senior Vase.

The Seasiders travelled to North Wiltshire without a number of first-team regulars but their understudies stepped up to the mark with an impressive display.

Julian Quick, Andy Wood and Dave Allan bagged two tries apiece while Dre Puraku and Tim Peplow also crossed the whitewash with the latter kicking three conversions to complete the 46-point tally.

Head coach Paul Harding said: “It was a solid team performance, we played nice rugby and I was very pleased with it.

“We had to make around six or seven changes to the team so it was to good to see us go there and still play the brand of rugby we want to be playing.

“Everybody played well. The Leatham brothers, John and Kevin, had good games, as did Dave Allan and Gareth Iles, and it was nice to see Tim Comben come off the bench for his first outing this year.

“We also had an international front row with a South African (Stephan Neethling), a Canadian (Pat Merrit) and a New Zealander (Puraku), and there was a promising debut from Lewis Allan on the wing.

“Sutton Benger weren’t fantastic but we still had to work for what we got.

Looking ahead to the home date with their lower-ranked near neighbours – scheduled for November 6 – Harding added: “We’re into the quarter-finals now and we’ve got Puddletown at home. No disrespect to them, but I would be disappointed if we couldn’t go and win that.

“I don’t think the club has ever played in the final before so it would be great if we could do it this year.”