Swindon are through to the final of the Dorset & Wilts 1st XV Vase later this month after a 22-6 victory over Corsham at Greenbridge Road.
The home side, already missing several players, survived another couple of late withdrawals to book their place against Trowbridge at Devizes RFC on March 27.
Preparations went badly for the hosts, with prop Nick Brooks pulling out on the morning of the game with an injury, before skipper Paul Wakefield damaged a hamstring in the warm-up which also ruled him out.
Corsham started the better of the two sides, dominating the first 15 minutes and successfully converting two penalties from the boot of Denzil Brockhurst to take them into a 6-0 lead.
But Swindon fought back and were indebted to a man-of-the-match performance from debutant scrum half Connal Knott, who scored two tries.
The first came from Corsham possession in their own 22.
A good tackle saw Swindon flanker Scott Chapman rip the ball away and break blind.
He drew the last defender and sent Knott away for a score in the corner.
His second try quickly followed and was a superb individual effort.
On the visitors' 22, Knott spotted a gap in the defence and his pace took him through the opening and away from the covering defence.
He beat the last defender before getting the touchdown, Chapman converting.
Stand-in skipper Paul Daniels put in another fine display from the back row which he capped with a try.
A break from the Corsham backs saw them ship the ball wide.
The Swindon defence was equal to the task and covered well, but in an attempt to keep the ball alive, an inside pass fell straight to Daniels who sprinted 50 metres to the line, making the score 17-6 at half time.
A scrappy second half saw the home side add one more score to the total with wing Robin Haxton getting the score.
Again, the Corsham backs tried to move the ball, but in an attempt to ship it wide, Haxton read the move and intercepted the ball to outpace the covering defence for the remaining 70 metres.
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