MARLBOROUGH have the chance to earn promotion to step six of England rugby this weekend after earning a bonus-point win at Walcot on Saturday.

After being denied the Southern Counties South title following the previous week’s defeat to Trowbridge, Marlborough quickly put behind that heartache to keep their promotion hopes alive by booking a play-off spot.

Elisi Vunipola’s men will face Windsor RFC on Saturday, with the winners earning promotion to South West One East.

Marlborough made a strong start against Walcot, wrapping up the four-try bonus point within the opening 30 minutes.

Not all was plain sailing though as Marlborough had to deal with an early injury to influential prop Lemeki Moala. A bandaged-up Tim Aldridge came on, still nursing a head injury from the week before.

Marlborough’s first try came when Mitieli Vulikijapani broke a tackle to score comfortably as Will Grant added the extras.

It took just five minutes for Vulikijapani to double his try count after a break from James Farrell, Grant again converting.

It was a case of role reversal for Vulikijapani for Marlborough’s third try as his break allowed Joeli Radovu to cross the whitewash.

The bonus-point score came on the half-hour mark when Ben Caravou found Radovu who in turn laid the ball off to Farrell, who scored in the corner, as the visitors led 28-0.

Walcot responded with two tries of their own before the break but Marlborough’s free-scoring approach continued in the second half as Vulikijanpani registered his hat-trick following a pass from Henry Webster.

Radovu benefitted from strong link-up play between Laqekoro, Farrell and King as Marlborough touched down for their sixth.

Though Walcot scored again, the visitors had the last laugh when a good move involving Laqekoro and King pathed the way for Farrell to cross over, Grant completing a fine kicking display with the extras.

Elsewhere Devizes failed to end the season in the top half of the division after slipping to a 46-24 loss at Yeovil.

With neither team threatened by relegation or challenging for promotion, Devizes were boosted by the return of Craig Bryant.

Fielding a different team that were beaten heavily at Devizes in September, Yeovil made a strong start and were quickly 21-0 up after three tries in the opening 15 minutes.

Devizes restored some confidence when Sam Jones crossed over for the visitors’ first try.

But uncharacteristic errors saw Yeovil stretch their lead to 28-7 before Bryant added Devizes’ second try before half-time.

Hopes of getting anything from the game were quickly dashed when Yeovil scored a pair of quick tries at the start of the second half.

Though Jones and Josh Gould crossed, it was a case of too little too late for Devizes, who ended the season eighth.

There were better fortunes for Corsham, who ended the season level on points with third-placed Sherborne after defeating Frome 34-27 at home.

Corsham had to weather a late Frome storm though as the visitors fought back from a half-time deficit of 16 points to lose by only seven.

Corsham had to rely on Adam Draper and Will Chivers to touch down in the second half to record a win in their final game of the season.