DORCHESTER 20

NORTH DORSET 40

RELEGATION-threatened Dorchester fell short once again as North Dorset took a 40-20 victory at Coburg Road in their Wadworth 6X Southern Counties South clash.

Despite losing by 20 points, Dorchester were far from outclassed, staying in the game until the final moments.

The hosts opened the scoring, James Baker slotting a long-range penalty in the first few minutes.

Dorchester, not for the first time this season, failed to deal with the restart and several phases later the North Dorset forwards drove over for the first try of the game.

North Dorset continued to have the better of the exchanges and added a second try following an attack down the blindside.

Dorchester were however looking dangerous with ball in hand and got their reward when George Foot collected an offload in the left corner and dived over, Baker unable to add the conversion.

North Dorset stretched the lead with two more converted tries before record try scorer Baker sprinted into the corner to add another to his total. Again he was unable to convert and so Dorchester trailed by 13 at the break.

The second half was much more equal as both sides continued to play expansive rugby but the defences dominated.

North Dorset’s outside centre showed pace and quick feet to score under the post – a score matched when Cameron Wills burst through midfield and touched down under the posts as well.

With Dorchester within two scores the last quarter became quite nervy, both sides lost a man to the sin bin following a couple of high tackles, but Dorchester were unable to close the gap.

Indeed it was North Dorset who got the final score, a 13-man driving maul giving the final score a slightly lopsided look.

Dorchester still sit in the drop zone in the table and next play Yeovil at Coburg Road on Saturday.

The county town side need to pick up 11 points to move above Thatcham and avoid the drop and with just three games left this looks a tough task.

In contrast, the A XV all but wrapped up the Wadworth 6X Dorset & Wilts Two South league with a hard-fought 25-17 win away to Dinton.

Rob Parker’s side pushed hard at the Dinton defence in the first half and found some gaps despite the good defence.

Second half they opened the game out and the backs played a big part moving the ball around.

Ultimately, it was a close game with the away team taking the spoils. Sitting 15 points clear at the top of the table, mathematically Dorchester can be caught, however it would need a total reversal of style and form for that to happen.

The side next play in two weeks at home, where a victory over Wheatsheaf should seal the league title.

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