YEOVIL 33 WEYMOUTH & PORTLAND 7

A FIRST Dorset & Wilts Two South loss befell Weymouth & Portland in Somerset, as Yeovil took over from Paul Harding’s side at the top of the table.

Missing several key players, the visitors finally saw their seven-match winning streak come to an end at the hosts’ Dorchester Road ground.

Yeovil registered the opening score of the afternoon when Josh Docherty made a powerful break and offloaded to Cal Rose for the latter to dot down. Max Harvey added the extras to put the home side in command early on.

Soon after, another break, this time by Dan Anderson, resulted in Rhys Hughes heading for the posts from halfway.

However, Hughes was caught short of the line thanks to a desperate covering tackle.

Yeovil then allowed Weymouth & Portland to set up camp in their 22, but poor discipline at the breakdown meant the hosts were able to keep out their opponents.

At the other end of the field, the visitors’ backs were caught offside and Harvey kicked the three points to make it 10-0.

Despite trailing, Weymouth & Portland were by no means out of the game, and their response to Harvey’s kick was immediate.

A poor Yeovil offload from the restart gave the territorial advantage back to the away side.

A try for the visitors looked inevitable but Hughes’ superb tackle on a Weymouth & Portland forward prevented this from happening.

Yeovil continued to find ways out of defence during this period of pressure from the visitors but they failed to maintain any consistent spells of possession in their opponents’ 22.

However, a second Harvey three-pointer stretched the lead to 13-0.

Weymouth & Portland needed to get some points on the board and that was exactly what happened.

From a lineout, skipper Kevin Leatham and his troops were awarded a penalty and number-eight Ryan Lewendon eventually went over. Bryn Llewellyn converted to reduce the deficit to 13-7.

But Yeovil hit back and, after a spell of pressure, scored a smart try in the corner. Harvey converted again to make it a 13-point game at the break.

Yeovil soon added another try in the second half through Sean Houghton, before Rose was sent to the sin bin on the hour mark for not using his arms in a tackle.

Despite being down to 14 men, the hosts increased their lead through a Harvey penalty.

And, having come back onto the field, Rose recorded his second try of the match to give Yeovil the extra bonus point.