Late score wins match for Trowbridge again

Trowbridge edged out their Oxfordshire visitors at Doric Park on Saturday when second half forward pressure and two late tries pegged back a nine point lead the visitors had at the interval. This lifted them three places in the league to 8th place, not 9th as shown on the table on this website as Trowbridge have won more matches than Witney, and in the process they leapfrogged above their visitors for the day.

F Almost immediately from the start Grove had a long range penalty but fly half Mike Martin’s attempt was unsuccessful and Trowbridge were on the defensive, but they gradually used the boot to force their way upfield in wet conditions. They opened the scoring with a 40 metre Lloyd Davis penalty after 10 minutes and he repeated this 6 minutes later with a kick from a similar distance to make the score 6-0. At this point they seemed to lose some structure and Grove gained the upper hand. A period of pressure resulted in their strong running winger Guy Nicholl going over for a try. Nicholl has an excellent record of try scoring in the matches between the clubs over the last couple of years having scored a hat trick of tries at the corresponding match at Doric Park last season. Martin converted the try. Soon after scrum half Joe Chilvers increased the lead and an attack down the left wing would have resulted in another try but for a last ditch tackle from Trowbridge left wing George Fowles coming over from the opposite wing. The ball was knocked on and Trowbridge escaped. The visitors continued to dominate and were awarded a penalty just before the break. Martin’s kick was short but the kick had to be retaken because a Trowbridge player charged the kick and the second attempt was successful. At this stage Trowbridge’s Dave Finlay left the field with an injury and the score at the interval was 15-6 in Grove’s favour. Grove were good value for this lead at this point.

The half time talk from Adrian Gouldstone, standing in for the absent Steve Ojomoh, seemed to have its affect because Trowbridge were more positive, having introduced Shane Johnstone and George Leat. They made progress by exerting pressure on the Grove pack but the visitors defence held firm. However, they were gradually worn down, but not until late in the game. The only score before the last 10 minutes came from an exchange of penalties from Davis and then Martin to make the score 18-9 but Trowbridge forward power increased. Grove lose replacement Simon Peel to the sin bin who took the penalty for the team for repeated infringements and Trowbridge turned down penalty kicks, opting to kick to the corners to use their line out, which was much improved in this match. Trowbridge eventually breached the Grove defence at a 5 metre line out resulting in flanker Matt Howard being driven over from a rolling maul. Trowbridge spirits rose at this point and spurred on by their support, they continued to use their forwards over the tiring Grove side. From a 5 metre line out 5 minutes from time on the other side of the field, the Trowbridge forwards drove hooker Dave Martin, who had moved to flanker to accommodate Dan Phillips at hooker, over the line for a try. Lloyd Davis converted both tries for a victory to Trowbridge that seemed unlikely earlier in the match. From the kick off Grove attacked but were unable to breach the Trowbridge defence. This result repeated the result at Trowbridge last season when a last minute conversion of a try won the match for Trowbridge

The other league results showed wins for Towcestrians, Maidenhead, Newbury and Windsor, with Salisbury, Trowbridge's next opponents at Castle Road on 7th November, winning the Wiltshire derby at Swindon. High Wycombe gained their first win of the season over Swanage & Wareham.