EAST DORSET 13

Puddletown 10

LITTERED as it was with so many penalties, this Dorset & Wilts Two South clash was a rather frustrating stop-start affair, but a close game nevertheless in which the forwards dominated with a match-long battle up and down the middle of the park.

So much so that despite the tireless prompting of both half-back pairings, neither set of backs had too much opportunity to really stretch their legs.

Due to a late withdrawal, Puddletown had to hastily rearrange their tight five and were immediately under pressure in the opening exchanges from the heavier East Dorset pack.

But they reacted well and with the loose forwards particularly looking more mobile than their counterparts they patiently worked their way into contention.

Fifteen minutes gone and some good rucking phases from the visitors resulted in a scrum. The home front row offended and flanker Toby Boatswain was quickest to react, tapping the free-kick himself and powering through to cross the line. Skipper Tom Yeatman added the conversion, but that signalled an immediate East Dorset fight back, and 10 minutes later they reduced the deficit with a successful penalty kick under the posts, only for Yeatman to cancel it out on Puddletown’s next attack with his own three-pointer.

Not for the first time this season, the Villagers turned round with a decent lead but then managed to let it slip, with the damage being partly self-inflicted by their repeated offending at the breakdown.

A yellow card just before half-time should have served as a sufficient warning, but as the home side’s pressure increased so did the penalty count and as a result they scored twice, firstly with a successful kick, then from a converted drive-over try to give them a three-point lead with just five minutes to go.

It still wasn’t over though and Puddletown had one last throw of the dice in the final seconds when East Dorset were caught offside on their own 22.

In retrospect perhaps the chance to level the scores with a straight-forward penalty might have been a better option than the ‘go for glory’ move that ultimately came to nothing.

Dorset Piddle Brewery Man of the Match: Max Welch