Sat 5 Feb 2022
North Dorset welcomed old adversaries Swanage & Wareham on Saturday 5th February. The game started frenetically with Swans drawing first blood from a penalty for not rolling away 0-3. Jake Cannings quickly responded by scoring a five-pointer for North Dorset in the corner, unconverted 5-3. North Dorset were soon awarded a penalty in their half and benefited from a kick by Robbie Sampson with a lineout in the Swans 25-metre zone and Jake Cannings scoring his second in the corner, not converted, 10-3. However, Swans struggled to compete with the powerful Dorset pack and collapsed the maul 2 metres from their line, causing the Ref to award Dorset a penalty try 17-3, which was the halftime score.
The 2nd half began with Tom Spinney crashing over the Swanage line for a try converted by Sam Jones 24-3. Not to be outdone, super Sub Simon Drake scored another, again converted by Sam 31-3. but not content with that did it all again, this time unconverted 36-3. At this point, Jake Cannings tore through the Swans defence to complete his hat trick, unconverted 41-3. Down but not out, Swans intercepted a pass in their half and ran the length of the pitch to score. Jake Cannings from the opposite wing made a valiant effort to catch the scorer and even tackled him, but he made the line 41-8. The last score of the match came from a maul on the Swanage line, with Dave Stickland claiming an unconverted try 46-3. The Swanage & Wareham travelling supporters swelled the crowd and, despite the result, were in good form and enjoyed the game.
The icing on the cake for North Dorset were awarded the Tribute Team of the Month for January by St. Austell Brewery. In addition, Jake Cannings was suitably rewarded with the GRitchie Brewing Company Player of the Match award for his tries and try-saving efforts.
