MARLBOROUGH 16 NORTH DORSET 17

NORTH Dorset survived a late scare to lift the Dorset & Wilts Cup at the end of a nail-biting final in Salisbury.

Captain Stacy Dyer and his side were leading by a point when referee Stewart Kilby penalised them on the last play of the game.

But the Marlborough full-back, who had been on form with the boot all afternoon, saw his kick at goal drift wide, leaving North Dorset to celebrate a memorable victory.

Dyer’s men had travelled to Salisbury RFC for their first ever Dorset & Wilts Cup final against a team captained by former Northampton, Exeter and Barbarians prop Chris Budgen.

North received the kick-off and immediately started to go through the phases, and it wasn’t long before Marlborough gave away a penalty.

From the line-out, North’s pack got to work, driving their opposition back and then over the line with skipper Dyer dotting down.

North were playing all the rugby, with Jay Westcar, Tom Hooper and Harry Collis making breaks but just falling short.

Marlborough used the strong wind behind them to clear their lines, however, they were dealt a massive blow on the half-hour mark when Budgen was red-carded for striking an opponent.

Suddenly the game changed and Marlborough were now inspired.

After a quickly-taken penalty, North’s Mindaugas Kazlauskas tackled the man before retreating the full 10 metres and the referee sent him to the bin.

Marlborough’s full-back made no mistake form the resulting penalty to make it 5-3.

North started the second half how they began the first, piling on the pressure and keeping Marlborough pinned in their own half.

However, a North Dorset pass went astray, Marlborough’s fly-half scooped up the loose ball and broke clear to find a team-mate who crossed.

Marlborough had the North defence at full stretch, though they were undone by a breakaway when wing Lewis Munster plucked a pass out of the air and ran 90 metres to score.

Sam Baker converted to put North back in front at 12-10.

The game then struggled to flow as neither team could put many phases together.

Marlborough added a penalty to their tally to edge them ahead with around 20 minutes left, while North responded well, taking the game to their opponents, particularly up front.

North’s pack drove the Marlborough forwards back and Adam Trevis touched down to make it 17-13 in his side’s favour.

But Marlborough responded straight away and Trevis was given a yellow card for an infringement at the breakdown.

Marlborough’s kicker made no mistake so it was now 17-16 to North with 15 minutes remaining.

As the game drew to a close, Marlborough broke away before knocking on just inside North’s half.

Referee Kilby called last play as the scrum set and, sensing it was now or never, Marlborough put real pressure on North.

North made a mess of the set-piece and gave away a penalty when trying to clear.

However, the wind was stronger than it had been and the Marlborough full-back’s kick went wide of the target, much to the relief of the North contingent.

While North will be delighted with the win and how they started the game, Marlborough must take a lot pf credit for playing for 50 minutes with 14 men.

Their triumph means North are now entered in the national cup competition and they will now travel to Marlow on January 2.

Before that, North’s attention will be on Bradford-on-Avon who travel to Slaughtergate for a Southern Counties South clash this Saturday.