A SPIRITED performance from the hosts was never quite enough to contain Walcot who held the lead for most of the match.

A much-changed Salisbury XV hosted second-place Walcot at Castle Road on Saturday in the sixth fixture of their league campaign.

Walcot had the better of the early exchanges and with good field position elected to run a freekick. Moving the ball left then right through a number of phases they created an opening for their first converted try with only three minutes gone.

Salisbury were undaunted and gained possession from the restart. They attacked using forwards effectively to create space until Hugh Bate’s well-timed pass enabled Theo Andre-Browning to take the ball at pace and score and unconverted try.

The restart was followed by an episode of kicking ending in a Walcot lineout and a freekick for Salisbury following a crooked throw. The hosts elected to run but were turned over and then penalised for offside.

Walcot converted the penalty to extend their lead to 5 – 10 with 12 minutes gone. They added a second penalty only minutes later. The visitors fumbled the restart.

Salisbury will travel to Dorchester next Saturday (Image: John Palmer) Salisbury quickly shifted the ball, fast hands between Bate and Andre-Browning created an opportunity for wing Bobby Spiers to evade a couple of tacklers and score an unconverted try on 19 minutes.

This delighted the home supporters but it was short lived. Walcot’s second row Oliver Ellis frequently clattered into the midfield and placed them firmly on the front foot.

The visitors elected to run a penalty in the 25th minute and patiently worked through the phases to score. The conversion gave Walcot a 10 – 20 lead which they held for the remainder of the half.

Salisbury’s cause was not helped by a yellow card on 30 minutes and they could not quite generate the momentum to stress Walcot.

Salisbury were contained in their own half during the early exchanges of the second half until a well-executed driving maul took them up to the halfway line. They kicked a penalty to the corner but a knock-on at the lineout was followed by a Walcot clearance.

The hosts gathered and ran it back. They spun the ball wide for Spiers to gather it on the wing, shrug off a loose tackle and run in his second try under the posts. Bate added the extras and Salisbury were back on terms at 17 – 20 on 58 minutes.  

There was then a clear momentum shift as Walcot found their rhythm. Scoring three further tries, they took the score to 17 – 37 entering the last 10 minutes.

Despite the deficit, Salisbury didn’t lose heart. Prop Booby Brown and backrowers Mike Adams and Tristan Jones were tireless in their efforts to create an opportunity. They were rewarded with a penalty which the visitors elected to run only to be held up over the line.

They were soon awarded a further penalty; they ran it spinning the ball wide to create space for wing Hayden Morgan to score and have the final word in the last minute. Bate converted to narrow the difference to 24 – 37.

Salisbury will travel to Dorchester next Saturday.