MARLBOROUGH avenged their defeat by Colerne at the end of last season, with a hard-fought victory on the road.

They were ahead early on, thanks to a well-worked try from right winger George Fox.

Marlborough should have been several scores to the good.

But Colerne were dogged in defence and disrupted the visitors' flow superbly.

They even stole a brief lead through a well-taken converted try midway through the first period.

But relentless Marlborough pressure saw superb number eight Rob Latham power over.

Skipper Nick Dobson converted the try to give his side a 12-7 half-time lead.

It was a similar story in the second period as the away sidelasi seige to the Colerne posts.

Marlborough's persistence paid off with a try through lock Mark Adams.

Colerne were not beaten though and scored a superb breakaway try down the right after stealing from a Marlborough line-out.

But the visitors had the last word with Simon Lucas scoring a wonderful individual try in the last five minutes.