ground to a halt: Full back James Spensley is overwhelmed by Oldfield
Southern Counties South
DORCHESTER 13
OLDFIELD OLD BOYS 31
A MUCH-IMPROVED performance by a depleted Dorchester side could not prevent high-flying Oldfield from taking two Southern Counties South points at Coburg Road.
Injuries and unavailability was such that assistant coach Mike Sprules was pressed into service to make his first appearance for six years.
The form book suggested that this would be an easy win for the visitors and they clearly arrived with a game plan of attacking from every angle.
The hosts though were up for the fight, more than matching their opponents up front and tackling solidly when required.
Oldfield did open the scoring with an unconverted try but John Firkin popped over a penalty to narrow the gap. The visiting forwards forced their way over for a second unconverted try before Sprules coolly dropped a goal and cut the gap to four points.
As the first half came to a close the strength of the Oldfield backs became even more evident as they added two more tries, this time converted, to open up a reasonably comfortable 24-6 advantage.
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Any thoughts that the county town side might fold in the second half were soon dispelled as they continued to disrupt the Oldfield scrummage and put pressure on the visitors' backs whenever possible.
A mistake allowed Firkin to hack the ball forward and Jack Elliott won the race to dive on the ball in the corner. Firkin then stepped up to add the extras with a superb touchline conversion.
STRONG ARM: Mike Chalker fends off an opponent
The Oldfield backs were now looking distinctly nervous and only a forward pass prevented Elliott going over for a second try in the same corner.
Unsurprisingly the pace of the game finally got the better of Sprules and he was forced to leave the field with cramp. The disruption caused by the resulting changes allowed Oldfield's fly-half to waltz through the midfield and score the game's final try, putting a slightly flattering slant on the final score.
Man of the Match: Mike Sprules.
Dorchester: Hodgson, Chalker, R Kershaw (Borries 55), Hodges, King (Richards 60), Prior, Newsam, E Goodfellow, D Gower, Sprules (Weller 70), Harvey, Elliott, Firkin, Baker, Spensley.
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