CHIPPENHAM head coach John Brown rated his side's performance as "decent'' as they opened the South West One East campaign with a 39-23 triumph at Trowbridge, writes SAM HILL.

The home side were making their return to South West level but despite taking the lead, they were eventually felled as Chippenham ran in six tries.

“It was a decent performance from us, obviously you want to get off to a good start and that’s what we did by getting the win,” said Brown.

“We used the ball to good effect; our movement was fantastic in allowing spaces to open up for our backs to get in with attacks and I think we were deserved winners.

“We do need to work on our discipline a bit more.

“We gave away a few silly penalties when we shouldn’t have but that’s something to work on ahead of next week.”

Trowbridge took the lead with the visitors giving up space to allow Ashley Chalk to chase down his kick and score a converted try and they also added a penalty but Chippenham captain Aaron Clark pulled a try back and Al Mackenzie kicked a penalty soon after.

Two penalties from Trowbridge took them ahead 16-8 at the interval and in the second period, after Jacob Unwin had crashed through for the visitors, Trowbridge added a second converted try to lead 23-13.

It proved to be the home side's final score as Chippenham, with Nick Hill controlling matters at fly-half, roared back, Unwin going over for his second score, converted by MacKenzie before Clark doubled his tally and Charlie Quarren-Evans laid on a perfect pass for fellow winger Louis Ayliffe to score, MacKenzie's conversions taking the away side further ahead.

The final move of the match saw the impressive back row of Charlie Palmer, Ed Hendy and Matt Dickens combine superbly for Quarren-Evans to scorch down the touch line and score.

Brown, whose side host Wimborne on Saturday, added: “We worked a lot on fitness in pre-season to help us keep our intensity and work rate up for the full 80 (minutes).

“I was very impressed with Trowbridge. Dan (Jeffries, head coach)) has built a good foundation and atmosphere for them to really push on and prove they deserve to be in this league.

“We like to play a mobile game, moving the ball across the line a lot and waiting for spaces to open up for us to attack which I think was too much for them on the day.

“Chris (Simmons, coach) has worked extensively with the boys in pre-season to get them into shape and to get them to understand how we want to play this season.”

  • MARLBOROUGH skipper Jamie Pittams believes his side must improve their discipline despite their debut South West One East win over Swindon on Saturday, writes SAM HILL.

The division newcomers started the game well, building a 17-0 lead and despite Swindon cutting the deficit, the newcomers closed out a 24-12 success at Greenbridge Road.

“It feels great to get our first win, especially in the first game of the season against a tough side,” Pittams said.

“We knew it would be tough with the step up into a higher quality league but we started well and took our chances when they came to us.”

Marlborough's quick start paid dividends as Garth Bari burst through Swindon’s defensive line and offloaded to Pio Tuwai to touch down between the posts, although the conversion was missed.

Tuwai was soon in again, chipping the ball over the defence and chasing down the ball to score his second, with the extras added by Will Grant.

Debutant Tom West put Marlborough within five metres of the Swindon line and a good lineout move led to Inosi Laqekoro diving over, Grant’s conversion stretching the lead further.

Tuwai was sin-binned 10 minutes before half-time, allowing the hosts to exploit the extra man advantage, scoring an unconverted try through Charlie Cox, who added another on the stroke of the interval, Connal Knott converting to get the hosts to within five points.

But the only score of the second period saw a line-out which led to Lemeki Moala grounding the ball in the corner, Grant landing the conversions.

“I thought Tom (West) was brilliant for us,” added Pittams.

“For a debutant to perform that well and fit into the team so seamlessly it was great to see and really helped us get the win.

“We worked a lot in pre-season on set pieces and structure. It’s helped us as a team heading into a tough season.

“We definitely need to cut out silly errors when handling the ball so that we become more clinical as a team,”

Swindon captain Mike Thompson, who due to injury was watching the game, admitted: “You could tell the lads were a little rusty with it being our first real test after a tough pre-season.

“When we stuck to our game plan we punished Marlborough and retained possession we were able to put a lot of pressure on them.

“To their credit they had a good defence which I think made the lads try and play a bit more loosely which resulted in more mistakes and turn overs in key areas.”

  • ROYAL Wootton Bassett opened their South West One East campaign in blistering fashion as Oxford Harlequins were comprehensively put to the sword 45-8 at Ballards Ash.

The Quins finished fourth in the division last season and boasted a huge pack of forwards, but found themselves outgunned as the home side ran in six tries.

Early Quins possession saw a series of forward drives being held up by spirited Bassett defence and a lightning-quick Bassett break, orchestrated by fly-half Ieuan Clements hinted at what was to come.

Quins opened the scoring with a penalty but as Bassett moved the ball around at pace, the visitors became increasingly stretched.

Bassett took the lead in the 24th minute when a series of attacks left the line exposed and number eight Neil Smith was able to drive over.

A quick tap penalty from scrum-half Tom Fieldsend then caught the opposition napping and allowed winger Sean Marsden to race over unopposed in the corner.

The home side lost wing Hamish Forbes-Keith to a hamstring injury, but just before the interval second row Chris Patterson went on a power-packed run towards the Quins line and managed to offload to replacement Tim Gallimore, who scored with his first touch of the match.

Fieldsend converted to give Bassett a 17-3 interval lead and in the second period Oxford continued to look vulnerable to pace and a free-flowing Bassett attack and high tackle near the line saw the referee show no hesitation in awarding a penalty try.

More pressure resulted in centre Elye Darragh powering over, Fieldsend adding the extras, and the fine rugby continued as second row Joe Pettit went on a mazy run at the line and offloaded to Fieldsend who raced over and converted.

Another typical run by Patterson saw him pirouette to touch down and Fieldsend again converted before Quins managed a consolation score in injury time.