DEVIZES came through a poor first-half showing to stay in touch with the Southern Counties South leaders as they finally got the better of county rivals Bradford on Avon at London Road.

In front of a bumper crowd, the home side toiled in the opening 40 minutes as Bradford belied their lowly league status to make the Saddlebacks scrap for every piece of possession and territory.

While Bradford themselves struggled to pressure the Devizes line but their scrum was among the best visiting units seen at London Road this season and the sides went into the break without having opened the scoring.

Things went from bad to worse for the home side as a break deep into Devizes territory brought a penalty that the visitors' Josh Felix kicked, while the hosts lost centre Sam Jones to be replaced by Hamish Quigley.

Devizes rallied and levelled through an Andy Thompson penalty before Bradford’s resilience was finally broken when flanker Josh Lewis sprinted through the defence, drawing the last man to play in Jorge Wadman for a vital score in the corner.

With Tom Reed joining the fray to bolster the front row, Lewis was again heavily involved in the move for the second try, which ended with replacement Charlie Paget scampering in at the corner.

Devizes got a third score when Bradford attacked down their left wing and Lewis intercepted, sprinting 60 metres to go under near the posts, for Thompson to convert.