CHIPPENHAM made it eight league wins out of eight on Saturday with a battling performance away at Wimborne.

Selection for the coaching team was a headache with several players out injured or unavailable including skipper Rupert Crockett with a neck injury.

From the start Chippenham found themselves pinned back into their own half by Wimborne who used the strong wind to their advantage. Wimborne used a catch and drive lineout effectively to go over for a converted try.

Chippenham however responded with a well-worked try of their own. Fly-half Dan Reynolds broke through, passing to centre Matt Spurway who in turn released veteran winger Joscelyn Barnes to score under the posts. Reynolds added the conversion.

This was quickly followed by a try from full-back David Spiers with Reynolds again adding the conversion to give Chippenham a 14-7 lead at the break.

From the restart, Wimborne scored a penalty after the visitors were caught offside at a ruck.

Chippenham then kicked a penalty to the corner and used front jumper Jon Todd to good effect. They set up the driving maul which allowed number 8 Andy Davey to spin off and score from close range.

Chippenham let Wimborne off the hook by gifting away a soft try after being caught offside when chasing a kick. The conversion was added to narrow the gap to 19-17 to Chippenham.

Flanker Richard Kearney then pounced to on a loose ball to capitalise on a Wimborne mistake and add another five points. Reynolds danced his way through the Wimborne tackles and released Spiers who went over to score.

Reynolds' conversion made it 31-17 to Chippenham before his penalty wrapped up a very satisfying result for the visitors.

Dilwyn Richardson, one of Chippenham's five-strong coaching team, said: "It was a workmanlike performance which made it eight wins from eight games.

"This performance shows we have good strength in depth."