Salisbury and Andover rugby clubs assembled large senior men’s squads at Castle Road for an entertaining pre-season friendly on Thursday evening.

Salisbury can take great encouragement from both the size of the squad and a spirited performance in advance of their Counties 1 Southern South league campaign.

Given this was a pre-season friendly the result was less important than the overall performance. The match was played in quarters, enabling both teams to rotate numerous players.

This was disruptive but necessary to review talent and assess combinations.

Andover had the better of the first quarter, they largely dominated possession and had the edge physically but were hampered by a lack of fluency. They eventually broke cleanly in the 17th minute and spun the ball wide for an unconverted try.

Despite trailing 0-5 at the beginning of the second quarter, Salisbury remained competitive but couldn’t sustain possession for long enough to threaten Andover. Who extended their lead with a converted try on 34 minutes.

With yet more squad changes, Salisbury started the third quarter positively and appeared to be finding some rhythm.

A converted try from Ivor Jones on 47 minutes narrowed the deficit to 7-12 but the visitors responded almost immediately with their third try on 50 minutes to establish a 7-17 lead.

The final quarter was clearly the host’s best. Enthusiasm, commitment and greater fluency resulted in with more possession and territory. Their efforts were rewarded with a converted try for Captain, Dom Porter to finish at 14-17 in the visitor’s favour.

The match exposed much for Salisbury to work on but there were also many positives from a developing squad.

They will continue their preparation with a second friendly fixture against the Wheatsheaf on Saturday, August 31.

Salisbury’s first league fixture will be against Royal Wotton Bassett at Castle Road on Saturday, September 7.