THE Combined team came away deserved victors in this tense Dorset & Wilts U18 Cup encounter against decent opponents from Dorchester.

With a couple of absentees from their normal team and fielding no less than six of the U16 squad this was never going to be an easy encounter against the older Dorchester squad however, playing with the bitter wind at their backs the home team came out the stronger with Full Back, James Ponsford, scything through the opposition in the opening minutes only to be caught by a last ditch tackle.

Pressure was maintained and despite losing a scrum against the head on the Dorchester five metre line the Combined team were awarded a free kick about 30 metres out and a delightful handling move saw Ponsford enter the line to open the scoring. With some astute positional kicking from both Scrum Half, Simon Ellinger and captain Andy Thompson, playing out of position at fly half, Dorchester were penned in their own half for much of the opening period.

The combined team went further ahead when Ewan Lacey, took a well-worked line-out ball to power over in the corner at the expense of a tooth knocked out while scoring.

Dorchester reduced the arrears on the stroke of half time when they converted a penalty from 30 metres that bounced over off the cross bar.

It was a sterling effort from the home team with the lively back row of Jamie Harris, Alex Britton and Mike Griffiths who thwarted many attacks before Dorchester had crossed the gain line.

The home team's next round opponents are Wimborne.