MARLBOROUGH maintained their interest in the Southern Counties South title despite a second-half revival by Frome in a 31-25 triumph at The Common.

The first try of the game came after 10 minutes when a pass from Ben Caravou put Joeli Radovu into space to outrun the covering defenders to score, Jake Williams converting.

From the restart the home team caught the ball and went forward, the ball being quickly moved out wide to enable Russ Westcott to score in the right corner for a 12-0 lead.

Frome replied with a penalty but soon after Mitieli Vulikijapani scored a third try for Marlborough.

Frome again responded and scored a forwards try but a good individual score by Caravou gave the home team a lead of 24-8 at the break.

The second half again saw Marlborough score from the kick off as Joe Visei picked up to run half the pitch to score under the posts, Williams converting.

The visitors came back into the game and scored a try after 70 minutes to make it 31-13 before adding two more in the final stages.

It was a disappointing weekend for Devizes, who were swamped 80-17 at North Dorset, while Corsham slipped further off the top three as they were beaten 38-24 at title contenders Trowbridge.

The visitors were 26-0 at one stage down but scored a try through Wes Newson late in first half.

Tries by Kalif Barnes, Scott Parry and Josh Strangward, two of them converted by Barnes, helped close the gap to 31-24 until Trowbridge scored a try in the final play of the match.

Corsham head coach Tim Draper said: "Trowbridge are a strong, well organised side and played to their strengths to go well ahead in the first half.

"We adapted after the break and it reflected how well we played that we narrowed the score and secured a try bonus point.

"I was delighted with our attacking performance in the second half.

"The guys should gain a lot of confidence having proved to themselves that they can play the way they want to against a team who will be strong contenders for promotion this season.''