WEYMOUTH & P II 17

DORCHESTER II 29

DORCHESTER scored a hard-fought win against their rivals to reach the last four of the Seconds Shield, writes Tim Beavis.

A cup quarter-final between two closely-matched derby rivals was always going to be a tense affair.

The visitors pushed hard to gain the initial advantage, but following a good move from a Weymouth & Portland line-out, the home side put the first points on the board with Khylo Farley scoring in the corner.

Dorchester looked to counter immediately and won a penalty from the restart resulting in a line-out five metres from the try line.

Weymouth & Portland’s determined defence failed to prevent the score with Luke Doherty driving over to level the game at 5-5.

Some strong ball carrying from both Ali Vivian and Iwan Mullin saw Dorchester create a number of good chances but a combination of nerves and hard defence prevented the scores.

Eventually the pressure told and Tom Gower crossed for Dorchester’s second try to settle the nerves.

However, Weymouth & Portland came back strongly to level the score after missed tackles by Dorchester allowed Ryan Harris to touch down for the home side.

Both sides were determined to go in ahead at half-time and only a try-saving tackle from Etienne Peach prevented a further Weymouth try.

Dorchester started the second half nervously losing two line-outs, but managed the scrum well enabling James Spensley to run the ball back to within five metres of the Weymouth line.

A missed penalty by Dorchester kept the score at 10-10 until a great break by Ed Andrews drove Dorchester through and he popped the ball to Gower for his second try.

The hosts countered and through some missed tackles again and good handling, Joe Gibson ran the ball in for Farley to convert, as Weymouth led 17-15.

Dorchester’s man of the match Julian Dale pounced on a loose ball and ran through from close to halfway to put Dorchester ahead, Rob Parker converted giving Dorchester the lead again 22-17.

An injury to a Weymouth & Portland player caused the home side to regroup, and Dorchester pressure from a line-out and penalty saw a try run in but subsequently disallowed for a forward pass.

The referee took it back to another penalty for Dorchester who won a five-metre line-out. The pack was driven over, but the ball held up.

With pressure telling on Weymouth & Portland, Dorchester pushed hard at the following five-metre scrum and Greg Hallett went over for a try, converted by Parker to stretch Dorchester’s a lead to 29-17 in the dying minutes.

The hosts pushed hard to score again but left gaps in their defence and nearly allowed Dorchester to score on the final whistle.