Salisbury hosted league-leaders Devizes in an exciting encounter to commence the second half of the league’s fixtures. Having suffered a heavy defeat in the reverse fixture earlier in September, Salisbury were determined to make a statement on home turf. Bolstered by a vocal and sizable crowd following the Club’s Vice Presidents’ lunch they extended their winning run to five league matches.

After silent tribute to a well-respected club servant Bill Gourlay; the match began with Salisbury showing early intent, despite the challenge of playing into the low winter sun. Ten minutes in, relentless forward pressure resulted in hooker Bobby Brown crashing over for the opening try. Fly-half Ollie Bate slotted the conversion to give Salisbury a 7-0 lead on 10 minutes. The remainder of the first half was fragmented, with both teams struggling for fluency. Devizes drew level when Joe Parsons scored a converted try in the 23rd minute following some excellent support play. Neither side appeared to be in control during the second quarter despite some clever tactical kicking from Salisbury’s fly-half James Kelway-Cocks.

Devizes added three points with a converted penalty moments before halftime to take a 7-10 lead. Salisbury also received technical yellow card to enter the break a man down.

Devizes came out strongly after the interval to exploit their numerical advantage. Salisbury fumbled the restart gifting the visitors an attacking scrum. They attacked and found acres of space enabling Cook to score after only a minute into the second half to extend their lead to 15-7. Salisbury responded swiftly as Bate landed a penalty to narrow the gap to five points a few minutes later.

A momentum shift came in the 62nd minute. Salisbury’s skipper Dom Potter battered his way into the midfield which earned them an attacking lineout. Brown then grabbed his second try with a charge to the line. Bate’s conversion attempt was wide, but the hosts had drawn level. Moments later Devizes received a yellow card and Bate’s penalty conversion gave the hosts an 18-15 lead entering the final quarter. Effective game management and well-judged kicking from Kelway-Cocks kept Salisbury on the front foot during the closing stages. As the clock ticked down, Salisbury put the match seemingly out of reach when winger Eremasi Ranatora bulldozed his way to the line for a try converted by Bate to make it 25-15.

Devizes were not finished. In the dying seconds the visitors attacked at pace for Aaron Payne to score a converted try bringing them to within three points. Despite having to withstand some late pressure Salisbury held on for a 25-22 home win.

Salisbury’s resilience earned them a hard-fought win against the league leaders, marking a significant turnaround from their earlier fixture. With this performance, Salisbury look well-positioned to build momentum for the remainder of the season and will travel to Frome on Saturday.