DEPLETED Warminster suffered late heartbreak as they chased victory at Gillingham, the hosts breaking away to score the try that denied them even a losing bonus point.

Travelling with the bare 15, Warminster were the dominant side in the first half but Dorset grabbed the lead with a penalty.

The amber and blues levelled with a penalty of their own through Jason Sprangle and, with their scrum dominant, continued to press.

Eventually, the score their efforts deserved arrived through prop Dan Woods.

After a number of carries close to the line from his forward partners, Woods hit a superb line off the ruck and barged over for the score, Sprangle adding the extras.

With half time looming, the amber and blues were reduced to 14 men when prop Steve Rowbotham was sin-binned for a dangerous tackle.

The second half was very much role-reversal, with the hosts enjoying the territory as Warminster found it hard to break out of their own half.

With 20 minutes to go, having no replacements struck as flanker Adam Matthew sustained an injury when his knee collided with teammate Alex Payne.

Dorset’s pressure finally told when they scored in the corner after creating an overlap against a dog-legged defence, the conversion levelling it at 10-10.

With two minutes to go it all went horribly wrong for the away side as what would’ve been a draw, turned into a 10 point defeat.

Dorset attacked down the right hand side creating a ruck.

Warminster winger Craig Buckton thought the ball was out and attempted to play it, but was penalised, allowing Dorset to boot themselves into the lead from a penalty.

In the last action, Warminster stole a lineout and charged upfield, but when the ball spilled on the floor, Dorset broke away for a converted score that left the visitors with nothing.

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