Heaviest defeat of season for first time visitors Leighton Buzzard

This was Leighton Buzzard's first visit to Doric Park after defeating Trowbridge at their ground at Wrights Meadow in September. They were lying sixth in the league following their defeat of second placed Towcestrians last week. The visitors looked as though they would be a handful for the Trowbridge team early on, but it was Trowbridge who took the lead against the run of play after 7 minutes when a gap was created. Winger James Davies out paced his opposite number down the left wing to score in the corner but Lloyd Davis was unable to convert from the touchline. Leighton Buzzard continued to press and forced a penalty in front of the posts in the 27th minute which was converted by their fly half Dan David but Lloyd Davis edged Trowbridge further ahead two minutes later.

The last 10 minutes of the half contained a series of yellow cards issued by referee Gordon Hardie. The first was a rather harshly given for a deliberate knock on by Buzzard centre Euan Irwin and then Steve Ojomoh sent on two replacements. Firstly Dan Smith who was almost immediately sent to the bin for killing the ball and then Scott Williams who was despatched for a kicking offence. During the period when numbers were reduced Lloyd Davis kicked a long range penalty from the 10 metre line to makes the half time score 11-0 to Trowbridge but the visitors would have scored but for a timely interception by James Davies just before the break. Numbers were restored after half time.

At the interval Trowbridge supporters were wondering whether their lead would be enough as they were playing against the elements in the second half. However the team made an excellent start and the visitors did not really take advantage. Trowbridge chose to run the ball and were soon rewarded when Scott Williams and Alan Chadwick made ground before Lee Fairlough took the ball into the opposition's 22. From the resulting ruck Davis made an excellent long pass to wing James McFarlane who beat the defence to score near the posts for Davis to convert, leaving Trowbridge 18-3 ahead. This score lifted the team and the forwards looked much more confident at this stage. The visitors who were threatening to this point seemed to run out of ideas as their efforts met with good defence from the Doric Park side. Trowbridge continued to press and the forward pressure drew a penalty five metres out. Trowbridge turned down the kick, taking it quickly and prop Lee Fairclough forced his way over wide out. The conversion was missed but within a minute James McFarlane intercepted near the half way line and raced over to gain a bonus point. Davis converted to complete the scoring and the teams played out the remaining 15 minutes without bothering the scorers. Trowbridge remain seventh but brought themselves to within 3 points of the visitors. This was an excellent second half performance after the blip at Grove last week and, the result was Leighton Buzzard's heaviest defeat of the season.

The other results for the day brought wins for unbeaten Chippenham at Buckingham, while Devizes' sorry run continued, giving Bletchley their first victory of the season with a result of 22-15. There were also wins for Swindon over Newbury, Windsor over Grove by 36-8, and Towcestrians over Maidenhead. Witney edged out Reading by 19-17. Trowbridge visit Maidenhead on Saturday kick off 2pm after having beating their Berkshire hosts at home last October.