PUDDLETOWN 35

DORCHESTER II 12

PUDDLETOWN overcame nearest and fiercest rivals Dorchester Seconds 35-12 at Greenfields to reach the Counties Three South Cup final.

Puddletown go on to face Swanage & Wareham Seconds in the final on Saturday, March 9.

This was always going to be a tense match, with each side winning their respective home league fixture, so local bragging rights were all to play for.

On an ideal afternoon for some running rugby, a large crowd were treated to a spectacle as the hosts drew first blood with Andy Edmunds' penalty after the county town side were caught with their hands in the ruck.

READ MORE: Puddletown 62-0 Dorchester II - report

The green and whites of Dorchester then certainly had the better of the first half, scoring a converted pick-and-go try, followed by an unconverted try out wide. 

With the clock in the red before the half-time break, against the run of play Puddletown went the length of the pitch with full-back Tom Roy running the ball from his own five-metre line, he offloaded to centre James Elwood. Winger Harry Pomeroy then took the ball on and neatly passed back inside to centre Tom Yeatman who went over to score.

Edmunds added the extras to make it 12-10 to Dorchester at half-time. 

Bolstered by their last-gasp try in the first half, the home side came out firing on all cylinders in the second. 

Taking a Dorchester scrum against the head near to the halfway line, Puddletown spun the ball out through the backs with Yeatman making the initial break and Elwood then taking the ball on to score, Edmunds converting.

Elwood added a long-range penalty soon after for 20-12.

With constant pressure from the Villagers, Dorchester tried to clear their lines but a poor clearance kick found Puddletown winger Alex Cley, who ran the ball back at speed and assisted by fly-half Lucas Frizzle and Elwood the ball ended up with flanker Slade Collins going over down the right to score, again converted by Edmunds for 27-12. 

Dorchester were competing hard at the breakdowns but once again were penalised at a ruck and Edmunds duly added another three points to his tally.

With time running down, Puddletown continued to put the visitors under pressure and with the last play of the game replacement lock forward Jumbo Perrett powered over to score an unconverted try.

Puddletown chairman and coach Tom Nixon said: “That was a great result for the boys and we look forward to meeting Swans in the final.

“Credit must go to Dorchester who made a good game of it especially in the first half.

“It's given us plenty to work on over the next couple of weeks.

“We're back in league action next Saturday against Poole at home here at Greenfields, so that's our main focus now.”

Puddletown man of the match: Slade Collins