WEYMOUTH & PORTLAND 40 SALISBURY II 56

WEYMOUTH & Portland head coach Paul Harding felt he could take more positives than negatives out of his side’s high- scoring defeat to Salisbury Seconds.

The hosts did end up claiming a bonus point after scoring six tries, and had it not been for an “absolutely dreadful” spell during the second half it could have been a lot more.

Harding’s men took a deserved 21-12 lead into the break but then proceeded to waste all their hard work in a 20-minute period following the restart.

However, the hosts stormed back and reduced Salisbury’s advantage to 42-40 at one stage before the visitors added two tries to secure the win.

Ryan Lewendon (2), Chris Lewendon, Joe Gibson, Chris Hurrell and George Carter crossed for Weymouth & Portland, while Bryn Llewellyn added five conversions.

“We did really well in the first half but when we made mistakes they punished us,” said Harding.

“We then turned round at half-time and had an absolutely dreadful 20 minutes.

“There were three restarts that didn’t go 10 metres which gave them scrums they scored from.

“We lost our way a bit in the second half, but fair play to the guys, they tightened things up and Sean Murphy and Jake Guildford made some strong runs.

“We then hit a real purple patch and scored three tries to make it 42-40.

“Unfortunately we didn’t deal with the restart and lost possession and the impetus we had.

“They scored a couple more tries to make it more comfortable for them.”

He added: “It was a cracking game and we did well in a lot of aspects of our game.

“We finally got to grips with the breakdown which had let us down in those 20 minutes.

“There were definitely more positives than negatives to come from the game for us.”

Harding also commented on the Weymouth & Portland second XV’s 117-0 hiding at the hands of Salisbury Thirds in Dorset & Wilts Three South.

“It’s hard work for them at the moment because they don’t have enough players,” he said.

“I have to give credit to the guys that did play and it was important we fulfilled the fixture.

“They were given the chance to finish the game early as well but were having none of it.”

Harding made another appeal for new players to attend training on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Monmouth Avenue from 6.30pm.