Returning to Greenfields the Puddletown boys felt like they had some unfinished business. In the return fixture at Dockers earlier in the season the boys in black felt like it was a game that got away and they were disappointed.

The sun was shining and a big crowd had turned up as it was the annual old boys lunch when past legends of the club come to see how the current crop are doing and regale each other with stories of there once great pasts.

The day did not start well with Gilly Woodsford, Joe Malpas’s better half, holding the water bottles hostage as the temperatures topped 20 degrees and the boys started to dehydrate. There was speculation this was a pre-meditated revenge attack for the previous game when she paid £10 for us not to remove Joes only nice shirt’s pocket only for it to be swiftly removed once the cash had been deposited in the fines tin

After not being able to summon the will to write a report after the Bridport game, the roving pirate drank some rum and is now ready to go. Bridport (A) The less said about the Bridport game a fortnight ago the better for all involved. A game that was hugely winnable saw Puddletown let go of the things that to this put point had made them have such a successful season. In an error strewn game there was a lack of intensity and desire that so far had characterized the villagers and they were duly punished.

This is not to take away from Bridport who played well, took their opportunities and were excellent hosts after the game and they have improved a lot themselves over the season. The plusses from our trip down the coast were a try from Tom Doyle and the Puddletown set piece was showing signs of the early season dominance that it had enjoyed.
Super Saturday Skittles- The Vic (A) With a week off and some much-needed team bonding required a social was called and the Puddletown crew headed to The Vic robed in “shit shirts” to watch the final weekend of the six nations. This wasn’t just an opportunity to get some neck oil down us though as a very serious skittles tournament was arranged to reawaken the competitive spirits.

Team Knott v Team Rattle was a titanic battle with skittles being taken down left, right and centre and scores remaining close, I don’t actually remember who won. Knott nearly lost an ankle after a vigorous throw from 1st team captain Nixon, some say it was accidental, he says it was deliberate for having to deal with all Knotts yellow cards this season. The shittest shirts was a close call between Gruff James in his yellow porn star shirt and James House who turned up in a very satirically relevant Chelsea shirt.
The afternoon descended into various rounds of skittles, spoof, Guinness challenges and brief interludes of actually watching the rugby. A great day was had by all and the Vic seemed quite happy to accommodate our behavior as it spiraled from a few quiet beers to the last days of Rome. A lot of what went on has unfortunately been redacted by our lawyers and is unable to go to print but safe to say it was one of the classic Puddletown socials and set us up well for a massive game the following week.

Dorset Dockers (H) Returning to Greenfields the Puddletown boys felt like they had some unfinished business. In the return fixture at Dockers earlier in the season the boys in black felt like it was a game that got away and they were disappointed. The sun was shining and a big crowd had turned up as it was the annual old boys lunch when past legends of the club come to see how the current crop are doing and regale each other with stories of there once great pasts. The Puddletown squad had an unusual look with a very front row heavy makeup, even allowing our very own Jack “Marler” Rattle to roll up 2 minutes before kick off declaring he woke up and “couldn’t be bothered” so decided to have a day on the beers instead.

Coach Cload let the boys soak in the atmosphere of the day, inviting a couple of the old boys to do the pre-match speech which was a master stroke getting the lads fired up and focusing the mind on the task in hand. With the sun blazing Tom Yeatman kicked off and the game began. The early stages were the usual cagey affairs as both teams worked each other out. With Barry Dovell starting in the 10 shirt for the first time this season, the villagers looked to spread the ball and move around the large Dockers pack.

After some probing runs through the middle from Rhys Jenner & Dylan Thomas, Puddletown worked their way into the Dockers 22, the ball found itself on the wing on Ben Hooper with a lot of work to do he stepped inside 3 players and then broke the last tackle to put the ball down under the posts for a great individual try.

Captain Nixon knocked over the simple conversion to make it 7-0 and just the start that was asked for. Puddletown could smell blood and kept up the pressure. From a midfield scrum they worked the ball through the hands to allow Elliot Frampton to gain some good yards. They then worked a number of phases with Big Freddie W and Sam Knott punching some significant holes, this allowed space for Sam Pomeroy to find a gap breaking through at his treacle pace before he fed the ball inside. The ball was fed to Joe “dildo hands” Malpas 5m out and with nobody around him he juggled the ball once, twice and then a third time before finally gathering control and dotting the ball down narrowly avoiding what would have been a certain dick of the day.

Again, Nixon added the extras and the boys were rolling. Dockers however started to fire shots of their own, working the ball into the Puddletown half and narrowly watching a penalty kick drift wide. From the ensuing 22 they worked the ball back at Puddletown and their excellent flyhalf threw a dummy and broke through towards the line. Only a fantastic last ditch tackle from full back Brad Harris saved the day as he dislodged the ball over the line out of the hands of the desperate Docker.

With a scrum 5m from their own line number 8 Malpas picked from the base to set a platform. Scrum half Nixon looked up and saw they had an overlap on the open side so decided to tempt fate rather than exit. He fed the ball to Harris who in a moment of genius/desperation put in a wonderful chip/shanked his kick that allowed Hooper to gather on the run, from here Hooper made it up to halfway before putting the ball back inside to Harris. He ate up more yard before getting brought down offloading off the deck to the supporting Frampton to run the ball in under the posts for a 95m try. Nixon once again added the extra 2 and the boys in black were now 21-0 up.

Dockers were not to be deterred though and worked their way back up the field eventually managing to work a nice move allowing them to score their first try of the game to bring it back to 21-5. With 5 minutes left Puddletown launched one last attack, Sam Pomeroy made a break down the right hand wing before again offloading the ball. The ball was then spread wide to the far wing to Ollie Raines where he was adjudged to be tackled high as he was charging down the flank.
From the resulting penalty Tom Yeatman put the Puddletown Pack 10m out and their line out which had been purring up this point worked impeccably. The maul was set up and drove to 5m out where the returning Dickie Watts broke from the back being held up just 1m short of the line. With a quick recycle of the ball Nixon fed the white line hungry Knott who is virtually impossible to stop from such close range and he barrelled over for our 4th try and bonus point wrapped up before half time. Nixon had got to used to kicking infront of the posts and unfortunately pushed the kick wide but the boys went in at half time with a 26:5 lead and a huge amount of positivity.

The half time talk was simple, keep the speed and intensity and don’t let them back into the game, this being Puddletown we obviously did the opposite.
Dockers came charging out the blocks in the second half almost immediately striking through some well worked hands, again they fortunately missed the kick to make it 26:10. This wasn’t the wake up call for Puddletown that was required and after some poor kicking and a couple of unforced errors Dockers found themselves with a scrum 5m out. They drove the ball up to the line where their big number 8 drove over to bring them back to 26:17 after they also got the conversion.

The boys in black were in shock and Coach Cload gave them simple instructions, pick the energy up and get back to the gameplan. Luckily this time the boys reacted, the wayward kicking stopped and the attack started to find its shape again. James Lewis and Jonno Wilson entered the fray as Puddletowns own Bomb squad to support Callum Williams in the front row and Tom Nickisson in the second row started to find space in the wider channels for his dangerous runs.

The boys worked the ball up the pitch through various stages, with ruck speed being high the dockers players were chasing shadows and the ball was fed across the pitch to Harris who managed to dive into the corner for a thoroughly deserved try. Nixon missed the conversion from the touchline but the Puddletown lads had found their Mojo. Puddletown kept the attacking going with Barry Dovell rolling back the years making breaks and throwing beautiful passes to put runners in space. Another move saw Jonno Wilson make a break through the middle before being brought down, the ball was span left through the hands to find Jenner on the wing he drew the last man and offloaded out of the tackle to Lucas Frizzle who was on for Raines.

Frizzle couldn’t keep hold of the ball with the try line at his mercy and the ref blew for a knock on. Frizzle claims it was for the pass but others argue it was for his butchery. Not to be deterred Puddletown kept the foot on the peddle. After a barreling run from Yeatman released Frampton down the right the ball was quickly recycled on the Dockers 22.
Nixon took a couple of steps to draw the guards before feeding Knott who barreled the first tackler out the way before driving to the line for his second try of the game. This time Nixon added the extras to make it 38:17. With the game now firmly in control the message from sideline was to push Dockers back and Yeatman did just that pinning them back in there own half with a series of raking kicks. The game slowly drew to a close with a very happy Puddletown celebrating a fantastic win.

Dockers were great opponents who played in the right spirit and threw the ball around as well to make an end to end contest. Man of the match was chosen by the old boys and went to winger Ben Hooper who had a fantastic game with some powerful runs and safe hands under the high ball. Dick of the day went to Jack “Marler” Rattle for deciding to go on the beers instead of pulling on the black shirt. On a slightly dower note Dylan Trevor picked up a shoulder injury and we hope he recovers soon as he has been a great addition to the squad since joining us thanks to his work colleague and definitely not friend Rhys Jenner part way through the season. And also a thank you to Elliot Frampton whose last game for the club it was this season. He has been a real force in the centre this year and has got better and better in the role since moving there from the back row.

Unfortunately he has a month in his chalet in Val Thorens to use and if he doesn’t go this week then he wont be able to use his butler and maid services as they will soon be leaving to the Caribbean villa. He was given a fond farewell with a cheese and onion crisps flavored pint which he really seemed to enjoy.