Southern Counties South

On a blustery afternoon, Minety were made to pay for dropped passes as visitors North Dorset seized every opportunity to snap up loose ball and run it back with advantage.

Minety started briskly and played much of the opening 15 minutes in their opponents’ half. But when they spilled the ball in North Dorset’s 22, the visitors pounced on it and ran it the length of the pitch to score under the posts at the other end.

This set the pattern for the rest of the game. Minety’s cause was not helped when, with half an hour gone, flyhalf Jack Ward was forced off with a knee injury. Ryan Dowling came on as replacement but North Dorset were soon piling over for another try, despite some heroic defensive tackling from Minety.

A third try followed as once again North Dorset counterattacked from ball Minety dropped.

Minety’s best chance to score came shortly before the break when fullback Reuben Saunders gathered the ball in his own half and charged down the touchline. Evading his pursuers, he seemed to have a clear run in to the line, but he opted to cut back inside and was brought down deep in the visitors’ 22.

Playing into the wind after the break, Minety made little headway while North Dorset ran in four more tries, adding a neatly executed catch and drive from a lineout to their repertoire of scoring moves. The home side kept their heads up and finished strongly but could not match North Dorset for fitness or organisation.

“I couldn’t fault the team for effort or commitment on the field,” said Minety coach Huw Jones. “If we can play for 80 minutes like we did in the last 10 today, we’ll win matches, but we seriously need more players to come training.”

Minety travel to Devizes on Saturday.