WEYMOUTH 12

PUDDLETOWN 20

Puddletown continued to go beyond expectations with a victory on Saturday with a closely contested victory against Weymouth at Monmouth Avenue.

With beers flowing and music pumping, Oktoberfest celebrations were in full flow as Puddle crossed the ridgeway to face off against an unbeaten Weymouth side.

It was Puddle who struck first, a penalty was struck between the uprights from 40 plus metres out by fly-half James Elwood which was only the start of another fruitful afternoon.

As the game continued on Weymouth started to find their way. Running through the motions of using their big ball carriers to move up the pitch and it was James Newsam who found the ball in his hands going over the whitewash. A conversion followed from Eddy Van Deurs Goss took Weymouth into the lead for the first time.

Following a spell of handling errors and a bit of ill-discipline, Puddle found themselves in the Seahorses 22 and they didn’t waste their time to get a reward, hooker Rhys Jenner took himself over for his first try of the season. Puddle went into the half up eight points to seven.

As the second half continued, it was Puddletown who came out the stronger side. Fly-half Elwood was on hand to offer some magic to open up the gap on the scoreboard. Following a run through the Weymouth defence the Villagers found themselves two scores ahead with a conversion slotted by Andy Edmunds.

Weymouth continued to pile on the pressure as they went in search of a score to narrow the Puddle lead. They went over the line only for it to be held up and Weymouth’s Joe Gibson made a line break only for Puddle vet Dave Holah to take him into touch.

Shortly after Weymouth were rewarded for their hard work, Max Vallance went over to close the gap to three points with an unsuccessful conversion to set up a tense final seven minutes.

As the game entered its final moments, Puddle won a turnover in the Weymouth half. The ball found its way to James Elwood who in his final action of the match crossed the try line as Puddle opened up the lead to 20-12, which is how the match ended, denying Weymouth a bonus point.

Following his first game at centre this season, Puddletown's Will Roussel reflected on Saturday’s result.

He said: “What a great day for the club, the support was unbelievable from the old boys, partners and those injured, you really felt that out on the pitch.

“This was my first time playing at Weymouth but the boys prepared me for what to expect and it was really good to get a result against a great bunch of blokes.

“As the successful start continues thoughts naturally turn to what this team can achieve however the truth is it is quite nice to only require a couple wins to secure our place for next year”