WEYMOUTH & PORTLAND 31

LYTCHETT MINSTER 10

WEYMOUTH & Portland improved their hopes of surviving the drop by taking an impressive 31-10 victory over Dorset & Wilts One South relegation rivals Lytchett Minster.

The Seahorses were boosted by a number of returning players, including Will Quick, who played at centre after coming out of retirement to score early on.

Norton Rogers was also on the scoresheet in the first half as coach Simon Litster’s men opened a 14-0 lead at the interval.

Scrum-half Lewis Allan was in fine form for the hosts and after the resumption sandwiched tries around a powerful score from substitute Matt Driver, before Lytchett grabbed a late try.

Speaking to Echosport following a triumph that moves the Seahorses to within two points of safety, Litster felt his side “dominated” the visitors, who remain second-bottom.

He said: “The guys were hungry for the line. It was a completely different performance from us and it helped that we had a larger pool of players to pick from – we ended up having a strong bench.

“We dominated them and scored a try very quickly from Will. He’s quick and he went through but unfortunately he injured his shoulder 10 minutes later and had to go off.

“But we scored again just before half-time with Norton outpacing their winger on the left and scoring under the posts.”

He added: “We started the second half as well as we did the first. Lewis had a really good game at scrum-half and scored a try either side of a Matt scoring, who took two players over the line with him.

“Lytchett then scored after some pressure and the whistle blew straight after. They actually did pressure us but our defence was very sound and it was good to see people making tackles.”

Litster also felt positive about the chances of survival for his squad, which is being led by Dave Oaksford due to a long-term injury to skipper Dan Bowditch.

He said: “I don’t know whether it will be the start of the great escape, but we’ll see. The mood amongst the players was good under Dave, who seems to lead from the front.

“We really need to win one or maybe two games. Two is preferable to be safe. The lads now realise that it’s possible to win more games and stay up in this league.

“We’ve got to play New Milton and North Dorset and I think both of those games are winnable.”

Seahorses: Comben, B Hayne, Berry, Norton, K Leatham, Richards, D Hayne, Oaksford, L Allan, Orlacchio, Harris, A Bowditch, W Quick, Rogers, Toms. Reps: Driver, Sankey, Almond, Farley, Davis, Tibble, N Allan, Glover, Keable-Kinsella, Williams

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