WEYMOUTH & PORTLAND 38

BRIDPORT 3

Weymouth & Portland came through the wind and the rain to beat local rivals Bridport at Monmouth Avenue on Saturday.

A scoreless opening 15 minutes saw both teams shake off a bit of early season rustiness as a few handling errors made it a stop start affair.

As the first half progressed, Weymouth's power started to have an impact though, and the hosts opened the scoring  through James Newsam.

The Seahorses captain went over the line in the corner after a drive from a line out allowed him to finish in the corner. Ryan Lewendon was unable to convert though with the wind playing havoc.

After the break, Weymouth extended their lead to 10-0 as Newsam again crossed the whitewash after some powerful forward play.

The Daggers did manage to get a score shortly afterwards as Cam White kicked a penalty in the testing conditions but it was all Weymouth from thereon after.

Ed Van Deurs Goss intercepted a ball at the 22 and went onto score under the posts and took over kicking duties and converted easily from close range.

A rumble from forward Tim Comben saw the prop go 20 metres to the 22 before the ball went nicely through the hands with Joe Gibson finishing. Van Deurs Goss added the extras.

Arun Rennie then added a fifth try for the Seahorses as he ran in over the line with Van Deurs Goss again adding the conversation.

Finally, Comben grabbed a second try of the afternoon to add some gloss to the Seahorses performance. 

Weymouth coach Rich Bament spoke to Echosport after the match.

He said: "I am very pleased, it is always tough against Bridport but we stuck to what we do and we got five tries in the second half.

"It was tricky conditions and there were a few handling errors and in the first 20 minutes there was a bit of rustiness"