PUDDLETOWN 0

WEYMOUTH & PORTLAND 76

WEYMOUTH & Portland whitewashed Dorset rivals Puddletown 76-0 to maintain their grip on first place in the Counties Two Tribute Dorset & Wilts South.

Rich Bament’s men have now won all four of their league fixtures in the 2022/23 season but were held at 0-0 for 15 minutes at Greenfields.

However, the Seahorses then took over as James Newsam grabbed a brace – his first tries since joining from Dorchester – as did Lewis Allan, Scott Greaney and Will Quick.

Tim Comben, Billy Hayne, Chris Norton and Jacob Brunell also crossed the line, leaving Hamish Jeffcott with seven conversions and James Davis with another for 76-0.

READ MORE: Weymouth & Portland 15-10 Oakmeadians - match report

Speaking after the 12-try thrashing, Bament insisted the game was closer than the scoreline suggests.

He told Echosport: “It was a good run out for both teams. The scoreline makes it look like it was totally one-sided but it was far from one-sided.

“Puddletown never gave in and certainly made us work for every try, which is credit to them.

“The first 15 minutes, we didn’t score. Then, once we got ourselves going it was really good and tries came at regular intervals all the way through the game.”

The Seahorses welcome Swanage & Wareham Seconds to Monmouth Avenue on Saturday as the hosts look to record five straight wins.

“They’ll be no pushover,” Bament warned. “Swanage beat Puddletown the other week, so we know what to expect.

“The pleasing thing was that we stuck to our guns and didn’t go on one-man runs thinking it would be easy.

“We put into practice what we’d been doing the past two weeks in training and it all came together.

“We’ve been telling them to believe in themselves and it all came to fruition. Hopefully they can carry that on through, starting with Swanage.”

Rory Legg and Joe Gibson (both broken ankle) plus Jacob Cummings (knee) are out for the entire season.

Bament said: “We’ve had three big injuries this year already.

“Rory fractured his ankle and dislocated it, Jacob has ruptured his ACL so he’s out.

“Full credit to him, he did it last year against North Dorset and has been playing on with it.

“From the previous week, against Oakmeadians, Joe’s actually broken his ankle in two places.

“All three are big losses because we’ve only got a small squad but all the players will fill in and do the best they can. I’ve got total faith in everybody.

“Three big injuries like that would test any squad, let alone a small squad like we’ve got. They’ll be out for the season.”

Bament is unavailable for the next two matches, meaning skipper Billy Hayne will lead the side.