Sat 28 Jan 2023
North Dorset 1 st XV travelled to Blandford for the local derby, and it was the home side that took an early lead when Scrum half Oli Richards exploited the blindside of a scrum, before chipping the winger then winning the race to the try line to score an unconverted try after 7 minutes. However North hit back with Captain Charlie Jobling leading the way, shrugging off a number of would be tacklers to score 2 minutes later, and fly half Will Johnson converted to give North the lead. Jake Cannings crossed shortly after, finishing off a try from lovely interplay between Jobling, Henry Dimmack Luke Biggs, and Jaime Bettesworth. Sean Perry added to the try tally on the other wing finishing off a strong kick return from Rylie Lewis, which Johnson converted. No. 8 Brad Bignell returned to the North Dorset 1 st XV after a period of injury and his hard running was rewarded with a try. North’s pack had the measure of Blandford in the scrum and Robbie Sampson was the benefactor of a good forward driving scrum when Bignell popped the ball to him close to the line for a converted try at the close of the half so that North took the half time lead 31-5.
Sampson then scored North’s first two tries of the second half both of which were converted to see them increase the pressure on the home side. However Blandford kept playing hard rugby and pushed North all the way. Inside Centre Conor Homes showed some initiative and took a quick tap inside the 22 to stroll over for Blandford with 20 minutes to go for a try that saw Ryan
Boardwell adding the extras. North Dorset’s debutant Henry Morgan scored the last try of the day with his 2 nd touch of the ball to see the final score 50-12 in favour of North Dorset. Brandon Ward, Will Willoughby & Sam Stinton had strong games defensively, and Sam Trevis threatened all day at 12. Robbie Sampson was awarded the Gritchie Brewing Company Man of the Match award for his 3 tries and for the second week in a row Rylie Lewis was the Richard Poe Shield.
