LYTCHETT MINSTER 23

WEYMOUTH & PORTLAND 34

WEYMOUTH & Portland maintained their 100 per cent start to the Counties Two Dorset & Wilts South season with a 34-23 win at promoted side Lytchett Minster.

After the anti-climax of a home walkover against East Dorset Dockers on the opening day, Rich Bament’s Seahorses were keen to get out on the pitch for real.

They found themselves 3-0 behind after an early penalty kicked by Jamie O’Shea, but responded soon afterwards when Andy Bowditch powered over, Hamish Jeffcott converting for 7-3.

Weymouth & Portland exacted control over the first half as Tim Comben barged his way to a try, Jeffcott adding the extras.

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Lewis Allan scored the Seahorses’ third try of the afternoon but ill discipline gave O’Shea two penalty kicks to reduce the visitors’ lead to 19-9 at half-time.

In a stop-start second half, the Seahorses misplaced a pass enabling Lytchett winger Mackenzie Flay to speed over for a converted try.

And Flay soon notched his second score of the game, again converted by O’Shea, to give Lytchett a 23-19 lead.

Going behind seemed to jolt Weymouth & Portland back into life as Will Quick scored in the corner, Jeffcott unable to convert as the Seahorses retook the lead by a single point.

Jeffcott did kick a penalty to make it 27-23 on the hour but more mistakes from Bament’s troops in attack ensured a nervy finish with both sides capable of winning.

Victory was not secured until the last play of the game when Joe Gibson recorded Weymouth & Portland’s fifth try of the game, Jeffcott kicking the extras.

Speaking to Echosport, Bament said: “We’ve come away with the win, so happy days.

“They certainly weren’t mugs. They were very spirited and never gave up but we were always comfortable.

“It wasn’t an ideal performance and there’s still plenty to work on. It gave me plenty of thought for what we can improve on.

“It certainly wasn’t one-way traffic, they put us under pressure. But we also contributed to the pressure by silly mistakes.

“We went through a stage where we thought we were Sonny Bill Williams with lots of offloads.

“We need to tighten up a lot in the contact areas and the way we present the ball to get ourselves moving. That’s stuff we’ll work in training.”

Weymouth & Portland host early leaders Oakmeadians at Monmouth Avenue on Saturday.

Bament added: “It’s always a good ding-dong battle with Oakmeadians, a very good game of rugby.

“It’s always close and luckily for us we’ve always come out on the right end of the scoreboard. They’ve started very well and have certainly got their strengths.

“I’ve got a few plans up my sleeve to hopefully nullify their threats. They like to attack the rucks and fire into the forwards.

“But my forwards can more than handle that and put it back in their hands as well. We’re quite strong and we like the combat.

“This season we’ve put a lot more width on so when we do get the chance we’ll play the full width of the field and run with it.”

Dan Hayne returns but James Newsam is unavailable and Ben Davies (ankle) will be assessed.