CORSHAM maintained top spot but had to come from behind to snatch a hard-earned derby victory over their Melksham neighbours.

The sides turned around scoreless at half-time in a game disrupted throughout by a number of disputable refereeing decisions.

In the first half, the Melksham hosts had a Rich Woolford drop-goal disallowed, while Corsham had scrum-half Chris Jones sin-binned for a second crooked feed.

The home side wasted a number of opportunities against their below-par visitors in the first half, but they eventually broke the deadlock early in the second period.

Cooper-Avon wing Danny Wells threatened throughout with his pace, and from one run, aided by a number of missed tackles, the home side gained a good attacking position. From a drive close to the Corsham line, Jeremy Flower touched down.

A Woolford penalty stretched Cooper-Avon's lead, but that was to be their last joy of the day.

Substitute Denzil Brockhurst, after an earlier miss, slotted two penalties to cut the deficit, and after a sustained spell of forward pressure, Craig Avent darted over for the decisive score.

In a grandstand finish and after having a player sin-binned themselves, for continual offside, Cooper-Avon opted not to kick a penalty opportunity in front of the posts.

Corsham's defences held firm and scrum-half Jon Cox was denied on the line.

Melksham coach Tim Unwin said: "I think we had more of the territory during the game, particularly in the first half, but poor decision-making cost us."

Corsham 2nd 14

Cooper Avon Tyres 2nd 19

CORSHAM'S second string suffered only their second Bath Combination 2nd XV Merit Table defeat at the hands of their neighbours.

The home side certainly had their chances to win the game, but could not find a way past their spirited opponents.

The Corsham tries came from Liam Healy and Alex Powney, with Steve Tye converting both.