DARTMOUTH’s dream of playing in the Twickenham final of the Papa Johns Counties 3 Championship Cup came crashing down on Saturday when they were beaten 34-8 by Old Elthamians in the semi-finals.

The game was watched by an estimated record crowd of 500 supporters all shouting for the home side, which gave Norton Field a fantastic atmosphere.

Captain Karl Caunter and John Dingle started with some bruising runs upfield but the visitors came right back and were unlucky not to have scored on 25 minutes when the ball was held up on Dartmouth's try line.

Back came Darts with a blindside run by Lewis Sharam which resulted in a penalty for Darts. Sam Churchill capitalised to give Dartmouth a three-point lead.

Dartmouth then leaked another penalty from five metres, and visiting full back Prince Ncube took a quick tap and dived between the posts to score. Jo Leigh converted for 7-3.

In the second half, Karl Caunter led by example and tried to rally his troops with battering runs through the middle of the field.

From a line-out in the Dartmouth corner, Elthamians won the ball and back rower George Robinson crashed over for a try which Jo Leigh converted to bring the score up to 14-3.

Most of the game was now being played in the Darts half and pressure resulted in another penalty for Elthamians and Leigh took the three points.

Thirty minutes into the second half, runs towards the line by Dartmouth’s Phil Rawle, Tom Clark, Ryan Burrows and Myles Churchill eventually led to prop Kyle McGhee battling over for a corner try to make it 17-8.

In the last 10 minutes of the game the visitors stepped up a gear and were prepared to run the ball from all over the field. This pressure saw wing Sam Scott over over for a try after an overlap. Leigh converted for 27-8.

The last minute of the game saw Leigh make a break across field before straightening his run and finding Will Davis on his shoulder who crossed for a try under the posts.

Dartmouth manager Andrew Tomkinson said, “Thank you, Dartmouth, for your amazing and loyal support this season, with a record crowd watching today's game.

“The lads were really up for today, with 40 players attending training on Thursday night. Not one player let the side down. With the score being 7-3 at half-time there was everything to play for.

“But hats off to Old Elthamians, who had made a four-and-a-half-hour journey to Dartmouth. They stepped up a gear in the second half and we just could not match them.

“We wish them all the best in next week's final at Twickenham.”

A big thank you goes out to D & I Cleaning services of Dartmouth for kindly sponsoring this match.

The thoughts and condolences of everyone at Dartmouth Rugby Football Club go out to the family of former player Rick Bonstow at this difficult time. RIP Rick.