Sun 1 Mar 2020, 11:00
On Sunday morning North Dorset Under 16s played Frome in the final of the Dorset & Wilts Vase competition. With a lot of sport being cancelled in the area due to waterlogged pitches, the playing conditions at Slaughtergate were near perfect under foot.
Frome’s pattern of play became evident After North Dorset kicked off. Frome’s number 9 made good ground and using his forwards as support, their well drilled rucking game gave them extra yards and it wasn’t until several minutes had passed that their backs saw the ball. This pattern of play saw Frome cross the white wash first. The extra 2 points were taken
with a well kicked conversion.
North Dorset soon hit back with a try of their own after some hard work from the forwards, the backs found some space out wide and Elijah scored in the corner. In the breezy conditions the conversion was missed. Although plenty of endeavour was shown from both sides the half time score remained 7-5 to Frome.
It was much the same after the turnaround. Frome continued playing a very forwards dominated game and North Dorset made good ground when they were able to release their pacey backs. Frome’s second try came when their forwards muscled over the try line despite some stout defending from North Dorset. It didn’t take long for North Dorset to hit back and again, their try came when the forwards were able to release the backs with Ryan going over in the corner. With three quarters of the match played North Dorset were still trailing by 2 points. Determined to get their hands on some silverware North Dorset dug deep. This time a try came on the left wing with Toby dotting the ball down after showing a good turn of speed. With their noses in front North Dorset didn’t look back and continued the pressure. The last play of the game saw Ryan scoring his second try of the morning on the right wing.
Finals are generally very closely contested matches and this one was no exception. North Dorset can be very proud of the way they played to secure the win.
