Match Report: East Dorset Dockers

Bridport produced a late points surge to seal their fourth victory in a row, beating East Dorset Dockers 33-29 in Tribute Dorset & Wilts One South.

It also means Bridport completed the double over their opponents after a 38-26 win at the Brewery Ground earlier in the season.

The first 20 minutes were a back and forth affair, until a period of Bridport pressure awarded them a penalty which saw the reliable boot of Mitch Waters record the Daggers’ first three points.

From the restart, Dockers knocked on and Bridport were awarded a scrum and pressure from this gave Bridport a penalty which Waters converted for 6-0.

Similar Daggers pressure saw another Dockers infringement for a high tackle and Waters extended Bridport’s lead to 9-0.

This pattern continued and Bridport’s pressure saw Dockers concede three more penalties, which Waters duly converted to double Bridport’s advantage.

As the Daggers continued to push forward, excellent interplay between forwards and backs saw the ball quickly move upfield.

Again Dockers conceded a penalty which was taken quickly and Bridport’s first try was scored by Harrison Crane for a healthy 23-0 margin.

Dockers kicked to the Daggers, managed to turn the ball over and on their first visit into Bridport’s half saw them score a converted try.

Bridport were caught napping at the start of the second half and some poor play by them saw them concede two converted tries as the hosts closed the gap to two points.

A tense finale of the game was building, as Dockers took a quick tap penalty and scored an unconverted try, followed by a penalty, taking the score to 29-23.

However, from the restart, Bridport focused their efforts and worked the ball up the field which saw the ever-present Seamus Fitzgerald cross the try line and Waters adding the extras to take the Daggers a point clear.

Bridport put the finishing touches to see-saw victory by kicking another penalty with the final play of the game to round off a perfect afternoon with the boot.