Dorset Dockers 8 Midsomer Norton 1sts 12
Saturday saw Norton travel to Verwood to play Dorset Dockers for the very first time. The game started poorly for Norton, as in the very first minute, their Captain, Denning, suffered an injury that could well keep him out of the game for some time. The team had to reorganize the pack, but were lucky to have second row Ben Mathews, himself just coming back from injury, on the bench.
The game restarted with Norton playing into a very strong wind and the home side used this to pin the visitors into their own half. The Norton forwards set about taking control of the game and completely dominated both the scrum and lineout, seemingly winning opposition ball at will.
Dockers scored first with a penalty goal, after the pressure the wind allowed them to put on the Norton 22m area. But as much as Norton were in control of the set piece, Dockers were competing well in the loose, although illegally at times, which led to them having a player sin binned. Now with an additional player, Norton scored the first try of the game. Second row Tom Fear won a lineout, the ball was fed to centre, Richard Martin, who carried up into the defence, quick recycling in the ruck allowed the ball to be passed back to Fear, who scored wide out.
The half ended with Norton having a slim 5–3 lead, but knowing they would have the strong wind in their favour for the next forty minutes. Norton didn’t have everything their own way in the second half as the Dockers showed how dangerous their back line is as they ran everything out of the defence, but strong tackles and running from centres, Mitchard and Martin, kept the home side pinned back in their own territory. After a long period of pressure, Fear collected his second try of the game as he dived to score against the bottom of the posts, fly half Abbott adding the extra points. The Norton pack carried on dominating the set piece, but weren’t able to convert this possession into points. Dockers continued to attack at every opportunity and eventually scored a try wide out but were unable to convert. The Norton supporters were glad when the final whistle was blown, and the team continues to stay at the top of the league.