PUDDLETOWN 62

DORCHESTER II 0

PUDDLETOWN stormed to a 62-0 victory over Dorchester Seconds in their Counties Three Tribute Dorset & Wilts South derby at Greenfields.

On a bright and chilly afternoon at Greenfields, Puddletown entertained their nearest rivals looking to avenge their only league defeat of the season so far and hoped to return to the top of the league.

With the county town side's first team having a home fixture it guaranteed that on this occasion they would field a genuine second team.

There was a large partisan crowd watching due to Puddletown hosting their Captain's Day as part of their 50th anniversary season, with many past captains attending a lunch prior to the kick-off.

READ MORE: Dorchester II 24-19 Puddletown - report

The game started evenly, with both sides testing each other's defence for the first 15 minutes.

The deadlock was broken when the Villagers' scrum-half, Andy Edmunds, took advantage of a loose ball at the rear of a Dorchester scrum. 

Edmunds reacted quickest, pounced on the ball and scampered into the corner from 30 metres for an unconverted try.

The tide was now turning towards the home side with the visitors making errors and giving away penalties.

Playing with a penalty advantage, Puddletown spun the ball out through the backs for winger Tom Roy to use his speed and go over in the corner for another unconverted try. 

The home side continued to put pressure on, their captain, hooker Rhys Jenner made a break through some weak Dorchester tacking and offloaded back inside to lock forward Ben Hooper, who went over to score. Edmunds this time made the conversion. 

Within two minutes, Hooper once again was on the score sheet, with a powerful individual run from 40 metres out, beating the tackles of the Dorchester defenders to score under the posts. 

Edmunds again converted for a half-time buffer of 24-0.

The men in red made a number of personnel changes at half-time and came out with gusto in the second half. 

Replacement full-back Jake Carter made an instant impression and made a break from well within his own half, he fed outside centre Jacob Holt who ran in to score. Edmunds kicked his third conversion.

With the home side's forwards putting the visitors under pressure, the Puddletown backs took full advantage of the amount of good ball they were receiving. 

It was Holt's turn to become the provider, making a break from his own 10-metre line and powering through, he offloaded to replacement fly-half James Elwood who ran in to score an unconverted try. 

Puddletown new recruit Ed Martin, playing at number eight, made a charging run through the centre of the Dorchester defence, breaking tackles and then passing out to Holt who went over to score his second try of the game, converted by Edmunds.

Almost immediately from the restart, Puddletown once again went the length of the pitch, on this occasion inside centre Tom Yeatman getting the touchdown. Edmunds added his fifth conversion.

Jake Carter was next in line to be provider, running the ball out of his own half and well into the Dorchester 22. Replacement lock forward Jacob Byrne was on hand to gratefully receive the ball from Carter and went over to score in the corner.

Puddletown's last try of the game came almost on the 80-minute mark, once again the visitors offending and giving away a penalty. A quick tap was taken and the ball was thrown out through the backs for Carter to run in and score a try of his own. 

Lucas Frizzle added the extras to round off a scintillating victory over Puddletown’s rivals.

Puddletown chairman Tom Nixon said: “It was a great day for Puddletown RFC.

“A resounding victory over our closest rivals, but to do it in front of a large crowd and also to welcome back so many ex-players from the club's history.”

Puddletown man of the match: Jacob Holt.