SWANAGE & WAREHAM II 40

BRIDPORT 62

BRIDPORT got back to winning ways with a thrilling and high-scoring 62-40 victory over Swanage & Wareham Seconds in Counties Two Tribute Dorset & Wilts South.

Despite only having 17 players, Daggers produced a second-half performance of excellent handling skills aligned to some superb offloads to run in five tries and overwhelm their tiring opponents.

From the kick-off, Daggers were soon on the offensive and when Sam Petchey ran back a Swans missed touch kick, he offloaded to Joe Swan who broke through and freed Charlie Samways for the touch down, Petchey’s conversion drifting wide.

READ MORE: Puddletown 22-17 Bridport - report

Swans struck back immediately when Harry Spyers chipped through from the 22 and with a kind bounce scored under the posts.

The Daggers' response was also immediate, Wes Lewis intercepting a loose ball, breaking into the 22 and offloading to Petchey who almost put Jordan Neil in the corner.

The ball was quickly recycled back to Neil who scored.

Spyers then scored an identical try and Swans quickly followed this up when loose ball was kicked through, Jack Pellow and Petchey accidently colliding to allow Swans to score, Petchey leaving the field with a head injury.

Swans extended to 16 points their lead with a further converted try as the Daggers’ handling was letting them down in promising positions.

However, they made amends when an excellent inside ball from Neil put Samways in.

The gap was closed to two points just on half-time when Nathan Herbert made a cutting break being held up on the line with the referee awarding a penalty try for handling in the ruck to give Swans a 26-24 advantage at the break.

From the kick-off, Swans soon re-established their 16-point advantage when a Samways pass was intercepted on the 22 for a run under the posts and following a knock to Pellow, who went off, Swans took advantage of a loose ball at a Daggers scrum to score what would be their last try of the game.

As in the previous two games, Daggers dug deep, this time from 40-24 down, and showed the fighting spirit which has been a feature of this season by hitting back in a controlled display of ball handling, line breaks and offloads to overwhelm their opponents.

Swans kicked a loose ball deep in to Daggers’ 22 forcing Neil to make a covering kick into touch.

Daggers had a free-kick from the line-out gaining good field position.

From a resulting scrum, a loose ball was gathered by Swan to drive powerfully for the line and score under the posts.

From the kick-off, Stuart Burton broke over halfway and from his accurate kick through Kian Bentley beat the cover defence to score.

Daggers now turned the screw as Daragh Mcloughlin drove powerfully over halfway offloading to Andy Easton who fed Neil to run in under the posts.

Swan got his second when Mcloughlin again broke clear with Lewis and Samways combining to put Swan in under the posts.

It was all Daggers now and, when Swans were penalised on their 22, Samways took the wise decision to kick for a three-score lead.

The match was capped with yet another break by Mcloughlin who somehow managed to offload to Herbert, returning the favour with superb hands back to Mcloughlin to Easton and on to Lewis for the final score of the game.

Before the game, it was announced that Pellow and Bentley had been selected for the Dorset County Under-20 squad, of which the club are very proud.

Daggers’ next game is on Saturday, March 4 away to leaders Weymouth who will be looking to avenge their defeat at the Brewery Ground before Christmas.