Match report: East Dorset Dockers

Bridport Daggers were at home to East Dorset Dockers on a perfect day, made for rugby. The occasion started off with the players, officials and supporters pausing for a moment’s silence on Remembrance Day. This was followed immediately by a minute’s applause for the club’s founding member and first captain David “Shandy” Williams, who passed away on 4th November.

The game began with Dockers reclaiming the ball from their kick off and attacking hard at the Daggers line. The Daggers’ defensive line held firm, as it would throughout large sections of the game, and a breakdown penalty enabled Daggers to clear from their half.

From the resulting lineout, Daggers opened their attacking set spreading the ball from width to width, bringing their wingers Jack Pellow and Harrison Wilkins into the game. Both saw plenty of ball on a day when the Daggers set out to entertain the strong crowd which had come to support. The result of this sharp attack saw fly half Rory Greening successfully land a penalty to give Daggers the early lead.

The next phase of the game saw Daggers pushed in defence by Dockers, only to be held out for a large period of time. This came to a sudden end, when Dockers saw space in the backfield and a clever chip over the Daggers’ defensive line put the Dockers’ flanker over in the corner for a well-taken try.

Daggers responded immediately though and after several phases of strong carries by the forward pack, Cameron Frank Waite sniped around the fringes to work his way over. This was followed shortly by another Greening penalty from the 10m line in the Dockers’ half.

The attacking rugby from Daggers continued in the latter stages of the first half, with the ball worked down the wing to Wilkins, who showed great footwork to cause trouble for Dockers. Having tied in the Dockers’ full back, Greening saw space and scored a stunning try from a chip over the top.

Daggers got straight back at it after the break, with number eight Hugh Vivian carrying strongly off a scrum to pop the ball up to Daragh Mcloughlin, who went over under the posts for a converted try.

Daggers saved their best try of the day for last, starting with a scrum inside their own half. The ball was moved down the back line, with a perfectly timed pass from debutant Camille Bird to set Henry Everitt and Wilkins in space. Wilkins stepped his opposite man and fed the ball inside to Mcloughlin who drew the fall back and passed to Nathan Herbert who went over in the corner.

In the closing stages, Daggers began to fade, following some enforced changes caused by injury and Dockers seized their opportunities. Two quickly taken tries followed, leaving Daggers having to regroup to ensure that they didn’t fall to a late loss after their strongest performance to date. The team tightened up their defence and managed to hold out for a well-deserved win on a special day for the club.

Daggers’ next game will be at home in a cup match against North Dorset II on 18th November. This match will kick off at 14:00, allowing for the possibility of extra time.