Chippenham ground out a home victory over their Wiltshire rivals Salisbury on Saturday.

Coach Rob Alford, though, was satisfied with their hard-fought win despite the lack of points, and said: "Given the windy conditions, this was a good win for us.

"Our defence played well in the first half as Salisbury had plenty of possession. It was a tough game but it is these games that count."

The match was one of two halves with visitors Salisbury dominating for the first.

From the outset, they took the game to Chippenham, and the home side found themselves on the back foot for long periods during the half.

Within minutes Salisbury had worked their way to the Chippenham line only to knock the ball on. This gave skipper Rupert Crockett the chance to clear their line with a kick to touch.

Chippenham did manage to launch the occasional attack, but a great break by scrum-half Andy Williamson and Crockett was thwarted by Salisbury. These ventures into the opposition half were rare and, with the visitors retaining the upper hand, Chippenham could regard themselves lucky not to be behind at the half-time break when the match remained scoreless.

The second half, though, was all Chippenham and they put their visitors under the cosh. From the restart, Chippenham drove forward and applied pressure on the Salisbury line.

This pressure told and the deadlock was broken as front row man Jonathan Whiteman plunged over for a try, with scrum-half Williamson converting for a 7-0 lead.

It was Salisbury's turn to find themselves camped on their own line and an attempted drop goal by Chippenham was missed.

The home side were awarded several penalties during the half, none of which were converted as the blustery conditions played their part.

Chippenham also made several substitutions with Whiteman replaced by Jim Pratt, and John Gibbon replacing Gary Squires.

But despite the changes and continued pressure, Chippenham could not find their way through. In the last minutes, they were awarded another penalty and Williamson made the game safe with a successful strike.

Ivel Barbarians 5

Chippenham Ladies 42

In blustery conditions Chippenham Ladies made the trip to Yeovil for their first league game of the season and made a strong statement.

After letting in an early try, Chippenham improved markedly with Harriet Crocket sliding her way through the Ivel defence on two occasions and they took a 14-5 half-time lead.

Chippenham continued to pile on the points with Crockett getting three more and Jai Cunningham one. All of the second half tries were converted by Morgan, slotting two from near the touchline.