Trowbridge on cloud nine after opener

TROWBRIDGE kicked off the new season in stunning fashion with a ruthless nine-try mauling of Wiltshire rivals Devizes.
The victory was extra sweet for new coach Dan Jeffries, who only took over at the helm at Doric Park over the summer but was able to mastermind an emphatic 62-12 success in his first competitive match in charge.
Fly-half Tom Weaver led the charge for the home side with a try coupled with 22 points with the boot. Adam Sullivan, James Davies and Joe Knight all got braces, while Ashley Chalk and Shane Johnstone also got themselves over the whitewash.
“I am really happy with that, it couldn’t have been much better as a first game,” said Jeffries.
“Devizes are a decent side and have got some good players and they came out at us trying to play. It actually looked like two well matched sides early on but we managed to click together and pull away.
“We put some good pressure on and Weaver kicked a penalty which settled our nerves. They then hit the post with a penalty before a bit of magic from Weaver set up Sully for the first try and the conversion put us 10-0 up. It could have been very different to that but from there we never looked back.
“We were clinical and we scored a lot of tries. The preparation and fitness work we did over the summer has started to come through. Two of our tries came from inceptions because of our line speed – if Devizes keep hold of the ball there then we have to work much harder for those scores.”
Trowbridge will go looking to make it back-to-back wins at the start of the campaign when they make the trip to Verwood to face Dorset Dockers on Saturday.
Jeffries will be keeping his players’ feet on the ground for the time being but believes the early signs look promising.
“We spent the summer trying to pull them all together. They had a tough season last year and it was about getting the attitude right and everyone on the same page,” said Jeffries.
“There’s work still to do but it’s very nice to see some of the work paying off already.”