AVONVALE 21

WEYMOUTH & PORTLAND 23

WEYMOUTH & Portland defied a red card and two sin-bins to beat Avonvale 23-21 in their Counties One Tribute Southern South.

The Seahorses, champions of the Counties Two Tribute Dorset & Wilts South, proved their doubters wrong as a determined display culminated in Lewis Allan’s late match-winning try.

After negotiating the valley trek to Avonvale’s playing surface, the Seahorses went 6-0 up thanks to two James Baker penalties.

Avonvale hit back with a converted try to take the lead but another Baker penalty put Rich Bament’s men back in front.

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That was until the Vale notched their second converted try, the visitors struggling with the RFU’s new laws on tackle height, forcing players to make contact below the sternum rather than shoulders.

Will Quick and Ryan Lewendon both saw yellow for high tackles as Weymouth & Portland’s defence unusually faltered.

However, they retained a threat going forward and raised the pressure on Vale’s rearguard, forcing them to concede a penalty try and a 16-14 deficit.

With 20 minutes to go, Weymouth & Portland were in a good position but found themselves a man down when Lewendon received a second yellow for obstruction, despite his team being out of possession.

Avonvale punished more off-colour defending from the away side to go 21-16 up with five minutes but the 14 men pushed on and produced a stunning finish.

Knowing only a try would do, scrum-half Allan burst through the Vale defence to notch a converted try and hand his team victory by a slender margin.

Speaking to Echosport, head coach Bament said: “It wasn’t bad off 30 per cent possession.

“We had a horrendous penalty count against us, partly because of this new tackle law that the referee was very strict upon.

“We had three yellow cards and a red for Ryan as well. When we strung things together, we looked good. There were three lapses in defence, which we pride ourselves on, so that was disappointing.

“We got the win in the end, which changed the way I talked at the end of the game completely!”

The Seahorses now go into their first home match of the season against North Dorset, the 2022 Dorset & Wilts league winners.

“They’ve done really well since they came up,” Bament noted.

“They’ve got pace all across their squad but it’s another challenge for us and we’re at home.

“We always give people a run for their money at Monmouth Avenue.”

Weymouth & Portland are awaiting a disciplinary hearing on Lewendon’s red card but Luke Beynon is unavailable.