A LIVELY performance from bottom-of-the-league Weymouth almost overwhelmed an understrength and out-of-practice Minety.

The seasiders ran in three good tries before the visitors finally got their act together in this Dorset and Wilts Division game, but some hard graft in the closing stages enabled the Wiltshire side to catch and eventually overtake their hosts.

Perhaps it was the three-week lay off from competitive games, or maybe it was the long journey down to the coast, but Minety started poorly and were clearly unprepared for the level of commitment displayed by their opponents.

Passes repeatedly failed to go to hand and the ball was all too often lost in the tackle, allowing Weymouth to snap up possession and counter-attack.

The home team,s first-half try and both their second-half scores came from break-away moves when attacks by Minety foundered on Weymouth's well-organised defence.

With only two Tweedale penalties to show for their efforts, the turning point for Minety didn,t come till late in the second half, when ball was put out wide and winger Duncan Drewett managed to outflank Weymouth,s cover and squeeze in for a try in the corner.

The visitors then strengthened their hand by bringing on Rodney Park and veteran flanker Dave Miller as replacements.

The forwards belatedly began to impose themselves, and Minety ground out a result by rucking and mauling themselves into positions from which scrumhalf Andy Brown and number 8 Mark Holdsworth were able to drive over for the winning tries.

"Weymouth tackled well and were frankly better than we expected. We were rubbish in the first half but came good in the last 20 minutes,'' said captain Dave Peirce.

Minety 2nd 0 Supermarine 2nd 66

MINETY'S woes continued with another heavy defeat, this time at the hands of a well-organised Supermarine.

Disregarding all considerations of age and fitness, Minety just about managed to find 14 players to take the field to fulfil this fixture.

To their credit, they played with great heart and their heads never went down despite the steady flow of points against them.

Captain Matt Burgess tackled with a will, as did full back Robert Groves, but elsewhere the defence was less secure and Supermarine always had more men and more pace whenever the ball was moved wide.

With two-thirds of the season still left to play, the call goes out to all Minety players past and present to rally to the cause and help the seconds get their campaign back on track.

As always, new players will be most warmly welcomed.