Malmesbury took leadership of the Dorset and Wiltshire League 2 North with a 10-0 win over fellow high-flyers Colerne at Higgins Field.

Malmesbury took the day by a converted try and a penalty goal to nil, but had to defend their line for most of the match to maintain their lead and claim the points.

The Malmesbury back row were hungry for the ball as usual but their jumpers were somewhat cramped in their play.

Colerne only had one jumper, James Chalmers, who was not policed as well as he could have been. The result was that Colerne took a lot of their first-half throw-ins without too much trouble.

The Colerne backs were responsible for containing their visitors attacks and forcing them to defend their line for long periods.

Long, attacking kicks by Guy Chamberlain forced Malmesbury's forwards into lineouts deep in their own territory, requiring defensive replies from Steve Brady and Kris Arens.

Arens tried to open the game up using wide three-quarter movements, but the occasional long pass missed its target.

Colerne began the match in a rush, forcing the visitors back into their own 22 to concede a penalty for offside.

Matty Trueman attempted the kick, but failed to score.

Malmesbury's pack stormed up the pitch following the drop-out and set up a maul close to the home side's line. From here, No 8 Huw Jones crashed the ball over the line for a try.

Arens had no difficulty in adding the further two points.

Malmesbury were then forced to defend their lead for the rest of the half, during which Trueman had another three attempts at penalties. During this period, Neil Ainsworth received a leg injury and was replaced by Simon Sharp.

Trailing 7-0 at half-time, the home side made three changes, but Arens increased Malmesbury's lead with a penalty.

Replacement Sharp had his nose broken while chasing one kick and was himself replaced by Kevin Tillotson.

The home side came close to scoring twice in the last 10 minutes, but a rolling maul ran out of steam five metres from the try line and Stuart Wright tackled Colerne No 8 Phil Baker before the final whistle blew, and the visitors had made it.

Malmesbury's next match is against the Wellesley Arms in Sutton Benger on Saturday (2.30pm).