A SUPERB second-half performance paved the way for Dings’ bonus-point victory over Bournemouth at Shaftesbury Park. Crusaders ran in eight tries in total, with doubles from Marcus Brooker and Anton Welling, and five-pointers coming courtesy of Steve Plummer, Matt Smith, Billy Roberts and Tom Anderson.

The howling winds played havoc early in the contest with neither side able to string much together. But the home side settled first with Brooker bursting through to score under the posts on 22 minutes. Steve Plummer converted. Bournemouth hit back with a try from Alan Manning, who took it upon himself to take a quick tapped penalty and wriggle over. Grant Hancox added the conversion to bring the sides on level terms.

Welling intercepted to dash in from distance before Plummer added a penalty to make it 15-7. More good build-up play resulted in Smith finishing off a flowing move to give Dings a 20-7 lead at the turnaround. Bournemouth cut the gap shortly after the break with a try from Sam Hardcastle, with Kingswell adding the extras.

But the final quarter belonged to the home side as they ran in 31 unanswered points. Plummer crossed on 61 minutes for a try he also converted. Brooker barged over for his second from a tap-and-go penalty before a determined effort from replacement Roberts off the back of a five-metre scrum saw the debutante blast over for a converted try. All action hooker Anderson went over in the final play to round things off for the home side - Jordan Grattan added the conversion on his last appearance for the club before moving to Australia.

Dings tries: Brooker 22, 65. Welling 29, 76. Smith 36, Roberts 72, Plummer 73, Anderson 79. Penalty: Plummer 32. Conversions: Plummer 23, 32, 61, 73. Grattan 77.

Bournemouth tries: Manning 27, Hardcastle 49. Conversions: Hancox 28. Kingswell 50

Dings Crusaders: 15 Luke Arscott; 14 Brad Doggett, 13 Matt Smith, 12 Marcus Brooker, 11 Jordan Grattan, 10 Steve Plummer, 9 Tom Knight; 1 Liam Appleton, 2 Tom Anderson, 3 Josh Lloyd, 4 Alex Bilton, 5 Gavin Curry, 6 Anton Welling, 7 Will Bryan, 8 Jake Holcombe.
Replacements: 16 Duncan Ferguson, 17 Tom Richardson, 18 Billy Roberts, 19 Waylon Gasson, 20 Tom Hargan.