BRIDPORT 19 NEW MILTON II 15

BRIDPORT have slightly narrowed the gap at the top of the league after beating undefeated leaders New Milton Seconds.

Two tries early on from Mitch Waters left the Blues only one point behind at half-time.

Then, after the interval, Gareth Thompson went over to further increase the team’s home winning streak.

Both captain Tom Gamwell and Tobias Whatarau pulled up in the warm-up with injuries, meaning that Waters was elected to lead.

From the sidelines, Gamwell was pleased with the whole of the squad's performance.

He said: “I think it was a good team performance in what was a hard game.

"Not just the starting 15 but also the guys who replaced injured starters and each replacement that came on had a huge impact."

During the game the home side started the more dominant of the two and set down a marker with in the first five minutes.

Scrum-half David Cutting was a nuisance at a New Milton scrum and managed to recover the ball just shy of the try line.

A quick pass from the ruck meant Waters received the ball at fly-half and was able to brush past two recovering defenders to score.

This was the perfect start for the Blues after Rich Layzell converted another two points to his tally for the season.

End-to-end rugby then ensued – Bridport quickly conceded three points after being offside at the back of a ruck following the restart.

Then, straight back in the visitors' half, the Blues scored to further increase their lead.

It was while Cutting was off receiving treatment for a blood injury that Waters moved to number nine and covered his position, from there, he was able to go over from the back of a ruck.

Bridport began to look comfortable with an 11-point lead, however, the basics began to fail them and they let New Milton back into the game before half-time.

Firstly, the Blues stopped playing after they knocked it on at the halfway line, as the referee played advantage the ball was scooped up by an opposition’s hands to run in unopposed.

Then, just before half-time, the home side couldn't secure their own line-out ball. A smart inside pass for New Milton resulted in an another try and lost Bridport the lead as the visitors went in on top 15-14 for the break.

After some re-composure, the Blues were able to start strongly in the second half. Thomson went over quickly from the back of a scrum to score. With Layzell missing his first kick of the match, the lead was a slim four points with more than 30 minutes to play.

However, Thomson’s try ultimately won Bridport the game as the rest of the match was a stalemate as the defences went toe to toe.

Gamwell added: “We have built a good platform and this win is a real statement of intent. It’s on us to keep pushing and make sure the results are positive.”

This week, the Blues has another challenge as they travel to face Puddletown, who currently sit one place behind them in the league.