Reports on first team matches are now continuing following a break since the Thornbury match in March. Since then Trowbridge beat Winscombe with a late Jac Stone penalty edging them ahead to a 29-26 victory, whilst they surrendered a 19 point lead in the last few minutes to an inspired Chosen Hill side. However this did not prevent the Cheltenham outfit from being relegated. Chippenham held a 21-0 lead in the first half while whilst most of the play was in Chippenham territory, before Trowbridge came back to within a score before a last minute drop goal denied the Doric Park a loser’s bonus point. Finally a third victory this season over Keynsham in the Papa John Community Plate ensured today’s match to be played.

Gordano again opted to play on their second team pitch as they did for the league match in January, while another match was played on their main pitch. This time, however they were ready for this and conditions were drier and sunnier, which allow the team to use a more expansive style. However, they conceded a penalty in front of the posts in the first minute, kicked by centre Joe Rowsell, but were in the lead soon after when skipper Ethan Hutt kicked over the home defence and won the race to score in the corner and Tom Weaver converted. Gordano returned to the ascendancy soon after when their elusive fly half Alex Walker broke through the centre a the ball was fed to wing Alfie Rice to score in the right corner. The try was not converted but soon after Rowsell made a break from deep and scored under the posts which he converted to make the score 15-7. Hooker Rhys Redman was yellow carded midway through the half with what appeared to be a dangerous challenge. Trowbridge were gathering momentum, but were also vulnerable to Gordano’s counter attacking style, They closed the gap with an excellent attack following a line out when Hutt broke through the middle just before the break and this made the interval score 15-12 to Gordano.

From the second half kick off, it was Gordano who conceded in front of the posts, and Weaver levelled the scores. Trowbridge defence was tighter and the forwards gained control against a fading set of forwards. Trowbridge scored three further tries from Rory Murchison, Redman and an excellent solo effort from Archie Robertson who received the ball on the half way line and outpaced the defence to score. With two Weaver conversions (taking his points tally beyond 200 points for the season) the score had moved to an impressive 34-15 score line, but scrum half Scott Magrath gathered a wayward kick to score an individual try for Gordano to make Gordano’s only contribution to the score line in the half. The dominance of the Trowbridge pack brought home the spoils and Trowbridge move to the next round of the Cup this Saturday, when they host Cornish visitors Wadebridge Camels at Doric Park. The Camels beat Truro last Saturday, but received a walkover from Somerset side Wellington in this round.

One feature of this match was the contribution of several second team players who were all used as replacement to bring the side home today and this is the first time Trowbridge have won at Caswell Lane. It was also evident that Gordano, who appeared to be optimistic in press reports during the previous week, had disappeared in the later stages to watch the other match being played at the ground.

Trowbridge now remain the only Wiltshire side left in this cup at any level, and the strength of the Severn league is shown with Drybrook and Thornbury joining the Doric Park side in the draw for the next round. The one surprise was Drybrook beat league runners up Old Centralians and there was even talk of a trip to a National Final as happened in 2014 when Staffordshire side Leek were defeated at Twickenham. However, there are two more hurdles to cross before this can be achieved!

Head Coach Ali Lund said “There have undoubtedly been some frustrations through the season that we have let games slip especially when playing away from home so it was particularly pleasing that the boys stood firm despite some first half pressure from Gordano. We were playing on a small pitch so the boys decided to be quite pragmatic in the first period of the game before trying to use the wider spaces when the Gordano side started to tire a bit, which proved effective. I must thank all of the travelling support for their enthusiastic encouragement through the day. It really drove on and inspired the lads and proved to be our 16th man. The tests do not get any easier with us hosting high flying Wadebridge Camels in the Quarter Final but I know our lads are enjoying the challenges and are doing the club proud”.