The Seasiders made it two league wins from two outings and apart from the final minute when concentration slipped allowing the visitors in for a try at the death they never looked to be in any trouble of coming second in this contest despite a spirited effort from their guests from Bournemouth.
With the ball resembling a bar of wet soap it was not surprising that many passes were spilled by both sides, but the Seasiders made fewer mistakes and that was probably the difference between the two teams. Again, and not for the first time, in a blue shirt number 8 Andy Bowditch led from the front and had the visitors defence rocking on its heels with driving runs from the base of the scrum.
Two early penalties from centre Ryan Lewenden opened Weymouth & Portland’s account before scrum half Craig Barter crossed from close in for a try also converted by Lewenden. Leading 13 points to nil at the break it didn’t take long before the Seasiders extended their leading margin when fly half Rory Legg capped the best move of the game with a try in the corner.
A matter of minutes later, prop Tim (Yogi) Comben, picked up the ball close to the Oaks line, and from that distance it would take a bulldozer too prevent him from scoring, and score he did. This was followed by Lewenden bisecting the uprights with the conversion.
With only two minutes left on the watch, Legg crossed for his second try of the afternoon and Lewenden adding two more points to his tally with the conversion. With just about every player and spectator willing the referee to blow for full time, he insisted that there was enough time to restart the game. The visitors, who always posed a threat won possession, moved the ball wide and crossed in the corner for a try.
After the game, the Seasiders’ head coach Rich Bament said: ” Firstly I want to thank all the lads who played, and the supporters of both sides for turning up in such awful conditions when it would be so easy to stay at home and curl up in front of the television. It was a good team performance against a side who always posed a threat. We dictated the play for most of the game and it showed our skill set in running in four tries. We did lose concentration at the death and let them in for a try which is disappointing as I hoped we could keep a clean sheet”.
Home skipper, Dave Oakesford added: “I was proud of the lads today, we kept up the intensity for 79 of the 80 minutes as Oakmeadian’s were certainly no pushover. We had to call up Facundo Patsouris Belcuore at short notice for his debut now that his international clearance has come through, and I would like to thank our treasurer Allison Hunter for sorting out the paperwork on that one”.
Words & Pictures from Idris Martin. Stats by Len (Nobby) Clark.
