Chippenham well prepared for cup test

In an entertaining game played in difficult conditions Chippenham, fielding the same side that took the points off Slough, moved back into second place in South West Division Two West.

Chippenham opened the scoring with a James Barnard penalty which was quickly cancelled out by Marlow replying with a similar converted kick.

Chippenham, enjoying the majority of possession and territorial advantage, then attacked the Marlow line with enough intensity for skipper Scott Sherratt, to canter in unopposed to retake the lead midway through the first half.

Chippenham, displaying more discipline than had been shown in recent weeks, used the wind at their backs to full advantage, with fly half Rich Davis putting in some probing kicks to keep Marlow on the back foot. Chippenham were then able to launch a number of attacks from deep inside the Marlow half as a result.

Centre Tom Crockett was able to extend the home side's lead after the Marlow cover defence again ran out of numbers to take Chippenham into the break with a 13-3 lead.

Disaster struck for Chippenham within moments of the second half starting when influential prop Bob Stevens was sent off for a kicking an opponent.

With the game still finely poised and Chippenham a man down for the remainder of the half a test of their character was due. Chippenham responded magnificently though with some controlled rugby which meant their try line was never really put in any danger. Instead they went on the attack and embarrassed their visitors with two power tries, from hooker Paul Baker and number eight Kenny Brown, who both dived over from short range following some excellent forward play.

With Barnard adding one conversion Chippenham played out the dying minutes to take two well deserved points.

This weekend Chippenham face an interesting test as the two South West Divisions unite in the fourth round of the NPI Intermediate Cup. With the western half of the Division always rumoured to be the stronger Chippenham have the opportunity to cause an upset as they entertain Weston Hornets.

Since the sides last met in their respective promotion year two seasons ago, both have enjoyed similar fortunes, with Hornets riding high in South West Two West. Kick-off is at 2.15 pm.

Wimborne 2nds 22, Devizes 2nds 5

DUE to injuries and unavailability, Devizes travelled to Wimborne with a scratch side to take on what was bound to be a very strong home side.

Within 15 minutes of the start Devizes quickly discovered that they were up against a very strong side, as they were already 15 points down after letting in three soft tries.

Devizes were now staring a large defeat in the face with only a short period of time gone, but to their credit managed to regain some form of control to bring the home side back down to earth.

The front row of Devizes had a large amount of ballast which ensured that the scrummage was very secure and the agility of Adrian Henegan and Paul Amor provided good line-out ball.

Towards the end of the first half Devizes utility flanker Ian Goshawk pulled a hamstring. This signalled the entrance of old Devizes favourite Mark Davis to come on in the centre and allow Rich Spinal to take his place among the strong Devizes pack.

The introduction of Davis sparked some life into the Devizes backs and as a result, an opportunity opened up for Tony Putt to score the only try of the day for Devizes.

Shortly after the break the unfortunate Aspinal had to leave the field with an injury which meant young winger Ryan Wallbridge found himself in the back row, alongside the impressive Mike McCrum and Henegan.

Davis by this stage was paying as well as he has ever done in the past. This in conjunction with some good passages of play from full back James Booth meant that Wimborne were not able to apply the pressure that they could in the first half.

Tony Putt, fresh from scoring in the first half, thought he could emulate his heroics once again. Receiving the ball in his own 22, he declined the chance to clear his lines with a kick to touch, but instead decided to take on three Wimborne players who quickly took the ball from him and scored. The kick being a formality.

This was to be the last scoring action of the day.

Devizes did well to halt the first half attack of the visitors, and came back strong in the second half under difficult conditions.

DEVIZES fielded A and a B teams for their fixture against Trowbridge.

The A team played two games which were very closely contested matches, both ending in draws, the first two tries apiece, the second four tries each.

Try-scorers were Toby Baker, Toby Fleming and Kieran Davis.

In another closely fought game the B team, with a number of players playing their first ever match, won 4 -3. Tries came from Luke Barfield, Ryan Webb, Stefan Rossi and Toby Baker.

Trowbridge under eights 15, Devizes under eights 30

DEVIZES drew on all their passing skills and with several side steps Peter Thomson went over for the first of two cracking good tries.

Mark Fox scored a further two spectacular tries, Christopher Isaacs' great supporting play yielded one more and Angus Nisbet dived into the mud to plant the decider. Gregory Townsend's stoic defence and Oliver Usher's determined tackling held the team together in defence. Henry Bristow showed real flair and enthusiasm and Jacob Plant once again showed himself to be a very talented all rounder.

MINETY'S 1st and 2nd XV games away against Westbury were both postponed because of waterlogged pitches. Minety firsts are due to play Cricklade this Saturday and the seconds are due to play Wootton Bassett thirds. Both games are at Minety.

Swindon College Old Boys 5, Wootton Bassett 6

THE referee deliberated long and hard before finally allowing the match to take place.

However the boggy conditions at the Nationwide Pavilion were never going to allow any constructive rugby and the game was eventually all about who made the fewer mistakes, with both sides consistently knocking on.

College had a couple of early penalty chances but kicker Sean Millwaters had a bit of an off day although one effort unluckily hit the post.

It was Bassett who opened the scoring after 15 minutes when fly half and skipper Neil James struck a neat penalty following an offside offence.

The game degenerated into a hard fought midfield slog with Bassett losing their Aussie exchange player Matt Hill to the sin-bin for a period after a scuffle between the forwards.

Just before the interval a blindside break set up by former Bassett coach Tony Brant saw the College full back go over in the corner to set up a 5-3 half-time lead.

Just after the restart James struck the ultimately crucial penalty following another College offside.

With veteran Bassett centre Steve Cunningham shadowing College dangerous Millwaters out of the game, the Bassett defence began to get on top. However, College put on a grandstand final ten minutes piling forward in a desperate attempt to breach the Bassett line. The defence stood firm and the victory moved Bassett up to third place in the table.

Oxford under 15s 12, Wootton Bassett under 15s 7

BASSETT were narrowly edged out by 12-7 in an excellent game.

Bassett conceded an early penalty try and that proved to be the only score of the half with Bassett trailing 5-0 at the break. Shortly after the restart a well taken try by the Oxford forwards extended their lead.

Bassett replied with a number eight try from the back of a short range scrum.