Under-13

WEYMOUTH & PORTLAND 57 LYTCHETT MINSTER 5

JADEN Claridge scored a magnificent seven tries for Weymouth & Portland as they breezed into the semi-finals of the Dorset & Wilts Plate.

The home side made a fast start and put the visitors under pressure from the kick-off.

Claridge broke a tackle and burst through for the line but his offload to Stevie Love didn’t go to hand.

However, from the resulting scrum, Lytchett were pushed off their own ball and Claridge took the initiative to cross in the corner.

The home side failed to gather the ball from the restart and Lytchett eventually brought the scores level with their first, and what was to prove their only try of the tie.

Things settled down and most of the pressure came from Weymouth & Portland, and it was Claridge again who managed to put the ball down in the same corner as before.

Not satisfied with that, he then proceeded to break through the Lytchett pack three more times in the first half, scoring under the posts each time.

These were duly converted to leave the home side 31-5 up at half-time.

The second half got off to a flyer for the hosts with Claridge getting his sixth try early on, but then his side took their foot off the gas and it was another 10 minutes before he managed his seventh score of the match.

Having switched from full-back, where he was playing out of position, to number-eight, it was then the turn of Frankie Read to show his pace and power, adding two tries to complete a 57-5 rout.