SHERBORNE II 10 BRIDPORT 17

FRIDAY night rugby under floodlights turned out to be to Bridport’s liking as the Blues held on for victory against a strong and determined Sherborne side.

The hosts took a very early lead in this Dorset & Wilts One South encounter thanks to a try by one of the loose forwards following good work from the scrum-half.

Bridport’s start to the match got worse when full-back Tom Fulleger badly injured his ankle and had to go off.

The game settled and, from a Blues line-out, Rory Greening broke several tackles to pass to Will Haggerty and he scorched under the posts. The easy conversion made it 7-5 to Bridport.

Sherborne came back into the game and responded with a fine try from their speedy fly-half.

Fed the ball by his scrum-half, the number 10 galloped over for another unconverted try.

Bridport were able to exert extra pressure in the second quarter and Sherborne seemed to lack concentration when defending untidy ball.

The Blues regained the lead before the break, prop Liam Poole making his second break of the half to feed Greening for his second score. He converted to make it 14-10.

Neither team seized the initiative in the second half and there was a paucity of scoring opportunities all round.

Centre Haggerty went off with an old wrist injury and Jim Jagger came on for his first game in several seasons.

Acting Bridport skipper Mike Pibworth led his troops well and was the instigator of the only score in the second half.

He took a quick tap penalty in his own half and jinked his way through several tackles to be held up illegally in front of the home posts.

One of his over-enthusiastic lieutenants was yellow-carded for trying to take over the referee’s job in dishing out punishment.

Fortunately, the penalty to Bridport still stood and Greening stroked it over to increase the visitors’ lead to 17-10.

Despite frantic attacks by the home team, the Bridport 14 stood firm against the onslaught to record a satisfactory away win against higher-placed opposition.

Bridport Seconds went to Bournemouth Fourths with a depleted team in Dorset & Wilts Four. Not only did they lose 52-14, they also ran out of fuel on the way home.