DORCHESTER 26

ROYAL WOOTTON BASSETT II 26

DORCHESTER picked up a hugely creditable 26-26 draw with league leaders Royal Wootton Bassett Seconds in their eagerly-anticipated Counties One Tribute Southern South at Surcouf Park.

The two teams did not disappoint, providing a great afternoon’s entertainment with the result in the balance right up to the final whistle.

Dorchester came out firing from the start, in front of a large crowd with the opposition being well represented, running in three tries in the opening quarter.

First on the board was left wing Cohen Emery touching down in the corner.

READ MORE: Dorchester A 24-19 Puddletown - report

Shortly after this, fly-half Alex Peel caught his own chip ahead and raced in under the posts.

Jack Adams caught the restart and following a searing break handed on to Steve Tucker who provided the scoring pass to Brad Mullins.

Peel converted two of the quickfire tries to hand Dorchester a 19-point lead.

Peel was then yellow carded for a deliberate knock-on, and the visitors then took full advantage of the extra man with two converted tries of their own as Dorchester led by five at the break.

Both teams started the second half a man short with Jamie Morgan and a Bassett centre in the bin following an altercation just before the break.

The visitors were now looking the more dangerous and had clearly regrouped, so it was no surprise when they took the lead with a third converted try.

Dorchester continued to dominate at scrum time but were struggling to win consistent line-out ball.

Entering the final quarter of the match, Peel managed to get his hand on the ball as it bounced around over the visitors’ line.

His successful conversion gave Dorchester a slender five-point advantage. Both sides had chances, but it was the visitors who scored from a clever line-out move after Dorchester had a failed penalty attempt to stretch the lead.

The visitors missed the conversion leaving the scores tied.

Dorchester were camped on the Bassett line for the last five minutes giving it their all but were unable to score the winner and the game finished all square.

In his 100th appearance for the first team, the popular front rower Joe Underhill was named player of the match for the home side, after a full 80-minute shift at loose head with some strong defensive work as part of Dorchester’s dominant pack.

Bassett remain unbeaten and top of the table with Sherborne chasing hard and the county town outfit now sitting sixth.

Dorchester now have a weekend off to regroup and rest any minor injuries, the next fixture being away to newly promoted Corsham who lie two places below in the table.

In their first game on the road, Dorchester A fell just short at Poole, going down 26-20.

The third-placed side in the Counties Three Tribute Dorset & Wilts South had more depth in the squad from the bench than the county town side could match.