WEYMOUTH 36 OAKMEADIANS 15

WEYMOUTH are up and running in Southern Counties South after recording a convincing victory over Oakmeadians.

The Monmouth Avenue success was the former’s first since earning promotion last season and they did it in style – running in five tries at the weekend.

Gareth Iles, Gary Hamlin, Harry Charles, Ryan Lewendon and Adam Hoxey all touched down for the hosts with Nick Sheppard dispatching four conversions and a single penalty.

Delighted head coach Paul Harding, whose side are now eighth in the table, said: “It was a big improvement all-round.

“We worked hard on certain areas during the week, particularly the scrum, and I was delighted with the way we responded on Saturday.

“They played with the wind in the first half and put pressure on us in the first 10 minutes. We grew into the game and had a lot of possession in the first half before eventually working a try through Gareth, who had an outstanding game.

“Nick converted and he had a cracking game with the boot.

“They came back and scored a try following an interception, which was a gift really, but we responded with a penalty from Nick.

“We then had the wind in the second half and I felt that as long as we played the right sort of rugby, we would win.

“We came flying out of the blocks and Gary crashed over within two or three minutes. We scored further tries through Harry and Ryan but then had an iffy spell in which we lost some of our composure.

“They came back strongly with a couple of tries to make it 29-15 but then right at the death we scored again through Adam.”

The 36-15 result, however, was marred by a serious injury to summer signing Idris Croft, Harding added: “He had been playing well and went in for a tackle where he got caught in the face and was taken to hospital with concussion and a broken nose.

“We’re hoping there is nothing more sinister than that but it did put a downer on what was a really solid performance.”

This Saturday sees Weymouth travel to table-topping Salisbury.