1st XV seal opening victory with tight win over Buckingham

Last Saturday Trowbridge opened this season’s campaign with a disappointing 63-17 loss to Bracknell over Trowbridge which had left them bottom of the league at the end of round 1. However the clubs first home league game at Doric Park in over 18 months was to be a very different occasion as the 1st XV took on Buckingham RUFC who made the journey from Buckinghamshire. There were 4 changes to the squad from the Bracknell game with Luke Moore coming into the 2nd row to make his league debut, Karl Crosbie on the flank and veteran Lee Fairclough & Ashley Chalk coming into the squad.

Buckingham’s opening game saw them lose to Sherborne 15-18 but managing to claim a losing bonus point. Previous encounters between the two sides pointed to this being a highly competitive match.

The game started with a minute’s silence for two ex Trowbridge players; Pat Townsend & Mike Mcgee who sadly passed away recently and to remember the 20 year anniversary of the tragic events of 9/11.

With the wind behind them Trowbridge dominated possession and territory in the first half but were frustrated to only be leading 8-0 at the break. The points were scored by Jack Davies who managed to barrel his way over from short distance and Ollie Weaver who added a penalty.

The Trowbridge faithful would have hopeful that they could have stretched their lead going into the 2nd half but it was not to be as it was Buckingham who struck early who following a speculative kick managed to score under the posts to bring the score to 8-7. Trowbridge maintained their lead for the majority of the 2nd half with another Ollie Weaver penalty and a fine team try expertly finished off by Ashley Chalk who celebrated the start to his 16th season with yet another try.

However as the 2nd half progressed Buckingham started to use the elements to their advantage and pressure the Trowbridge try line. They were rewarded following a catch and drive form a lineout which resulted in a try and giving Buckingham the lead for the first time in the match 17-16

Trowbridge managed to remain calm for the remainder of the match and were rewarded for some strong carrying from Gareth Davies, James Macfarlane, Lewis Jordan, Austin Reid & James Davies with a number of penalties in the Buckingham half. One of which Ollie Weaver managed to kick over and the lead was restored to 19-17. The last moments of the game were played out and loud cheers, mixed with sighs of relief were heard when the referee blew the final whistle and Trowbridge had earned their first victory of the season.

Man of the match was awarded to Ollie Weaver who made a number of fine breaks mixed with some excellent passing and good goal kicking. The celebrations in the clubhouse went long into the night as players and supporters enjoyed listening and dancing to the band Soular who made up part of the celebrations for Captains Night.

Full time: Trowbridge 19 Buckingham 17

Next Saturday Trowbridge return to action when they play local Wiltshire rivals Chippenham for what should be an entertaining game, kick off is 3pm. There is no coach transport available for this game but supporters are encouraged to make the short trip and support the team.

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Trowbridge: 1 Zac Harvey 2 Rory Murchison 3 Jack Davies 4 Gareth Davies 5 Luke Moore 6 Karl Crosbie 7 Alex Murchison 8 Max Day (C) 9 Harrsion Wall 10 Tom Weaver 11 Lewis Jordan 12 Ollie Weaver 13 James Macfarlane 14 James Davies 15 Ashley Chalk Replacements: Lee Fairclough, Austin Reid, Nigel Kershaw.