Honiton Under-11 were 60-50 winners when they met Dorchester for what proved to be the toughest encounter yet this season for the young Lacelads.

The visitors went into the contest full of confidence having just represented Dorset in the Land Rover Cup at London Irish.

However, it was the Lacelads who started the better and they raced into a 20-0 lead by the end of the first quarter thanks to an assured display in attack with Tim Goody, Joe Evans, Billy Tarr and skipper Osian Owen grabbing a try apiece.

Dorchester dug deep and came back strongly to boss the second quarter and with the Lacelads unable to exit their half of the pitch and the visitors scored four unanswered tries.

The third quarter was far more even with both teams trying to play some expansive rugby in the heavy conditions. However, it was Dorchester who had the physical edge and soft tackling from the Lacelads allowed them to add a further four tries while Honiton could only manage two of their own through Luke Matthews and Tim Goody.

The final quarter saw the Lacelads front up at the breakdown, this enabled them to spread the ball more so that Felix Williams, Edward Grimshaw and Tim Goody could each score before James Harris rounded off a fine team try with a swallow dive in the corner. Dorchester had the final say with a couple of late tries, but the Honiton youngsters were not to be denied.

Their were some great performance with Cameron Pegg looking sharp on his return and Edward Grimshaw prominent in both attack and defence. However, it was captain Osian Owen who shone with his physical presence at the ruck and all-powerful running display with ball in hand.

This weekend the Lacelads travel to South Molton hoping to maintain their winning form.