Sport

Sherborne 3 Oxford Harlequins 10

The First XV manager hailed the showing against Oxford Harlequins as ‘one of the best defensive performances in Sherborne’s history’ as they pushed the promotion-chasing visitors all the way at The Terraces. Jim Gower was full of praise for his team, and proud of their ‘unbelievable commitment’ in this gripping encounter. Sherborne’s heroic rearguard was particularly impressive as they played for 40 minutes with a man down due to separate yellow card offences, and ultimately, only a disputed penalty try proved to be the difference between the two sides. Quins came to The Terraces having lost just once this season and showed their quality from the first whistle. With the strong wind at their backs and keeping the ball well in hand, they enjoyed the majority of possession and spent long periods camped in Sherborne’s twentytwo. The home defence, with Ben Austin outstanding throughout, repelled wave upon wave of Quins’ attacks with a fine display of committed defending and last-ditch tackling, and despite their dominance, Ewan Fox’s 12th minute penalty was the visitors’ only reward at half time. The hosts remained under pressure after the break, although with the advantage of the wind, they were now able to clear their lines and provide more of an attacking threat. The decisive moment came just after the hour mark when referee Stew Kilby awarded the visitors a penalty try, following the collapse of a maul after a lineout. Although Rhodri Hopkins kicked a penalty to get the home side back to within a score of the visitors, they could not find a way through Quins’ defence to salvage anything more than a losing bonus point, leaving the high-flying visitors to breathe a huge sigh of relief.

RUCK AND ROLL: Action from Sherborne v Oxford Harlequins and, right, Sherborne v Witney Sherborne battle in vain to contain mighty Quins

Red-hot Cole stars to seal double over Witney

Sherborne 10

Witney 5

Having edged Witney 17-14 earlier in the season, Sherborne completed the double against their midtable rivals in a hardfought encounter, with the busy, tough-tackling Aaron Cole the hosts’ star man. The home side failed to make early possession and territorial advantage count until Max Harvey crossed in the corner on 30 minutes after a spell of sustained pressure. AJ King added a superb conversion, and then stroked home a penalty from in front of the posts to make it 10-0 at half time. In an evenly contested second half, the visitors fought back, and reduced the arrears on 55 minutes, scoring a try in the corner after a fluid move by their back line, although they failed to add the conversion from the angle. Sherborne defended well as both teams tired and had few major alarms to hold on for the win, their fifth from seven games in 2022. n Sherborne have accepted a league decision to deduct them 25 points for fielding an unregistered player due to an administrative error. A club spokesperson said: “Whilst we feel the scale of the points deduction is incredibly harsh, we accept it, and our focus is solely on enjoying the remaining games of the season and making everyone at SRFC proud.” The next home match for Sherborne Firsts is on Saturday, March 12 when they entertain Windsor.

Getting in the swim with World Book Day

Children will be diving into book-themed swimming lessons next week when Dorchester Sports Centre introduce special sessions as part of World Book Day. Budding swimmers on its Learn2Swim programmes will take part in the fun, activity-based sessions tailored around featured books, such as Mrs Pepperpot Learns to Swim, Stickman and The Deep End. The centre ran a similar programme in March 2020, with the aim of improving reading and swimming through cross curricular activities. Ricky Hayes, head of sports, activities and aquatics at 1610, said: “We know that children learn best when they are having fun and enjoying themselves, by combining each lesson with a story we can do just that and still ensure that all the activities have clear learning outcomes, so the children in the lessons will be learning about books and swimming without even realising it.” For more information visit dorchester@1610.org.uk or call 01305 858400

Ten wins on the spin for super Zebras

By Stuart Wickham

sport@westdorsetmag.co.uk

Sherborne Town enjoyed a brilliant week, deservingly picking up the Toolstation Team of the Month award for January, and making it ten league wins on the trot with back to back home victories against local rivals, Gillingham Town, and Bristol Telephones. With the match between their two closest challengers falling victim to Storm Eunice, the Zebras increased their lead at the top of Division One to seven points, and although Warminster Town and Welton Rovers have games in hand, points in the bag could prove crucial as the fixtures mount up during the title run-in. A brace from defender Henry Lawrence-Napier helped the free-scoring Zebras win comfortably against Telephones, although the visitors had taken a surprise first-half lead as Town lacked their usual fluency in a game played in very breezy conditions. Dec Cornish’s equaliser before the break seemed to take the wind out of Telephone’s sails, and the Zebras produced a dominant second-half performance. Midfielder Ben Hughes bagged his first for Town on 50 minutes, before man of the match Lawrence-Napier took centre stage with his two goals. The Zebras’ fifth came courtesy of Australian super sub Jack Cutmore, who scored his 4th goal in just six substitute appearances to make the final score 5-1. A week earlier, Gillingham made the short trip to Raleigh Grove and put up a resolute derby performance against the table-toppers, however could not prevent the Zebras from running out eventual winners, with goals from Josh Williams, Alex Murphy and Cutmore securing the three points in a 3-1 win. Next up for the Zebras are trips to Wells City and Bishops Lydeard, before hosting Portishead Town on Saturday, March 12.

ON TARGET: Alex Murphy

By Stuart Wickham

sport@westdorsetmag.co.uk

Bridport, Dorchester and the villages in between buzzed as Olympic diving gold-medalist Tom Daley biked his way across the county as part of his epic Homecoming Challenge for Comic Relief. Well-wishers in their droves defied the inclement weather to shout words of encouragement and cheer on the Olympian, who bravely battled a strong headwind and driving rain on the third day of his Hell of a Homecoming Red Nose Day Challenge to reach his hometown Plymouth. The epic journey saw the popular diving superstar row, cycle, swim and run his way from the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford to Devon. Day three of Tom’s 290mile journey was arguably the longest as he took to the saddle for the 130mile leg, cycling for more than 12 hours and climbing 3,000ft as he made his way from Southampton to Bovey Castle in Dartmoor, through the grueling West Dorset stretch. Unfazed, having already cycled 70 or so miles by lunchtime, Tom was smiling and looking remarkably fresh-faced as he cycled through Bridport, supported by a large and enthusiastic crowd. And with the beautiful West Dorset scenery as a backdrop, Tom pedaled his way through Puddletown, Lower Waterston, Winterbourne Abbas and Chideock en route. Tom said: “I said yes to the opportunity as it’s one hell of a challenge and most importantly, it will be raising money for Comic Relief and for people who really need it. I really hope my journey inspires people to donate. The thought that this challenge might actually make a difference to someone’s life, someone who is struggling, is what will help me push through every step. “The turnout of people coming out to say hello and show their support is really special, it’s quite surreal. It’s really keeping me going when I need it most.” His journey is being documented for a BBC One and iPlayer special airing in March, ahead of the return of Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day on March 18.

ON HIS BIKE: Olympic diving star Tom Daley cycles across Dorset as part of his epic trek to raise money for Comic Relief Pictures: NEIL BARNES

The Daley express powers across the county to raise money for Red Nose Day

The only way is up: Bees chairman

By Stuart Wickham

sport@westdorsetmag.co.uk

Long-serving chairman of Bridport FC Adrian Scadding has genuine reasons for optimism despite the disastrous current season being comfortably the worst that he can recall in his 28years with the club. Although the Bees are languishing at the foot of the Toolstation Premier League having earned just three points, Adrian hopes a new management team will allow the Bees to ‘bounce back’. He said: “Preparations for next season are well under way. We have a new management team lined up and I am confident we will be able to bounce back quickly. The focus for next season must be to consolidate, and I hope we can compete for promotion the following season. The incoming manager is confident he will be able to bring in some experienced guys to play alongside our emerging young players.” There are other positives too, the club’s strategy to look for young local talent has certainly paid some dividends. The Bees have links with

Bridport’s youth teams and are looking to enlist promising players aged over 16. “Three or four of our young players from the reserves have really stepped up which has been a real plus for us, although we acknowledge that we need to add some experience to the squad,” said Adrian. The club’s core support

LOYAL: Support for the team remains strong despite results. Inset: Adrian Scadding

Tough at the bottom for struggling team

The Bees’ woeful record this season speaks for itself – played 29, won one, drawn none, lost 28 with just three points to their names and a goal difference standing at a staggering minus 137, and counting. The abysmal sequence of results include a 12-1 home drubbing at the hands of Millbrook and a 9-0 reverse against Saltash, also at St Mary’s Field. The Bees’ solitary win, a narrow victory against lowly Ashton and Backwell United, came in August, and since then they have scarcely looked like earning another point, failing to register a single goal in the three months prior to the Millbrook massacre. The season has been challenging. Incoming manager John Godbold left unexpectedly early into his appointment and the club struggled to bring in enough experienced new players, leaving the squad wafer thin. Godbold’s assistant, Rob Marquis, took over the reins only to leave in December as results continued to disappoint.

optimistic despite season of misery

GOAL! Bridport players celebrate a rare goal this season Pictures: STEPHEN BARRETT has remained strong, and Adrian has paid tribute to the Bees’ loyal but longsuffering fans. “We regularly get 140 to 160 supporters to our home matches which is always among the top three or four attendances in the league,” he said’ “We are really grateful for their continued support and at least they’ve got to see a lot of goals this season!” Off the pitch, the club is on sound financial footing, having fostered strong links with the business community which remain undented by its run of poor form. Adrian said: “We have a sponsorship draw which gives local businesses the chance to be profiled on our shirts. We had 72 businesses who got involved last time, although we didn’t ask for this support last year because of covid. Luckily we’ve been okay financially as we run a tight ship. If we can’t afford it, we don’t have it – it’s as simple as that.” The association with the Bridport business community is a long one. Adrian, who is a director of Motorcare, recalls: “I was approached by the former chairman about being on the football club committee. He was honest with me and said it was so I could look after the club minibus. Since then, I’ve done lots of roles. I’m the current licensee of the bar, I was secretary for five years, vice-chairman for a while, and even ran the tea bar for a year early on.” Adrian’s 17 years as chairman makes him one of the longest serving in non-league football. With somebody as passionate and dedicated at the helm, the optimism at the club seems well-founded. The Bees are next in action at home against Brislington on Saturday, March 5.

ANOTHER COUPLE: Bridport have a remarkable goal difference of -137 this season Although not a mathematical certainty, chairman Adrian Scadding accepts that relegation to Division One of the Toolstation League, has long been a formality. “There is no way we can compete at the moment,” said Adrian. “Our squad is threadbare, and we are calling on reserve and third team players. “Rather than developing players or trying to improve tactically, the biggest challenge for Shaun Annetts (caretaker manager) is simply to field a team. In our game at Helston last week, we only had 12 players, and Helston brought on three subs with 20 minutes to go. We are holding our own for a while in these matches but it’s so hard for our players to compete for 90 minutes against good teams who have proper resources and can bring on fresh legs. I’m proud of our players who aren’t leaving anything out on the pitch. It’s been easily the worst season I can remember in all my time, and we all just really want it to be over so we can begin rebuilding for next year.”