The conditions were fair; a little wind and a soft underfoot, as Salisbury took to the field away against Sherborne. Following a brisk warm up and an inspiring send off from the dressing room we looked confident from the off. The first breakdown led to a scrum on the10m line; our pack looked menacing and they were. Excellent work allowed eighth man, Chris Nicholls, to demand the heave he needed to scoop the ball and break down the blind side. He crashed through the opposition and off-loaded to Callum MacTaggart who put on the afterburners and dashed over the line in the corner. A challenging conversion into the wind kept the score to 5-0; and inside 4 minutes.

We consistently stole the ball in loose play. The loose forwards, hunting like a pack of hungry terriers, were particularly good at this - as were several of the backs - and from early on we had the lions' share of possession. Following a passage of play, where our handling was not its best for a brief spell, we were defending on our 22. Despite the wind our fly half cleared the ball well and we were on the attack again. An excellent maul and Pip Allison, who had a huge game at hooker, made a devastating break that took us deep into Sherborne territory. Green jerseys were quick to take up the chase and Caden Murley was on hand to receive the final pass 20 m out. His excellent jinking run allowed him to touch down under the posts. Tom Pittman converted.

There followed a great period of play where we were fully in control. Owning both the set piece and the loose, we passed the ball wide and our ball carriers always had support to their left and right. We battled our way into Sherborne's half, powering mauls, quick ball down the line and some strong running from our wings, Loxley Blumer and Tom Kuhle, allowed us to regularly penetrate Sherborne's defense. A terrific steal from Archie Bourne saw him break and power his way from the 10m line to score in the corner. The final play of the first half was the forwards in charge of a fast moving maul across the half way line and for Sam Bradby, at scrumhalf, to initiate a rehearsed move. A blazing run by the centers and some fancy footwork by several of our backs, saw Callum MacTaggart complete the grubber session and him diving onto the ball to score midway between the posts and the corner. His conversion attempt just slipped to the right. Half time; 27 -0. Our coach issued instructions; players caught their breath and rotated positions. Salisbury supporters ate fudge.

The second half begins and Salisbury continued where they left off. Retaining the ball as if it was a season ticket at Twickenham, driving Sherborne off balance in the lose and stealing anything that wasn't locked down We were rock solid in the set piece, our backs running straight as arrows and everyone working flat out to support the ball carrier. The coach looked happy. We made a number of snappy breaks, dashing out from behind our impenetrable wall of forwards, Hugo Horlock, Callum MacTaggart, Tom Kuhle and Tom Pittman all made considerable gains before distributing. Chris Nichols was having a mighty game and powered his way over the line again. Callum MacTaggart kicked a pretty testing conversion.

Salisbury continued to press home their advantage. There weren't many lineouts but we dominated those there were. Our backs dined on an almost continual feast of possession served up by the reliable eight men in the engine room. There was a brief period of scrappy play as we entered the final quarter, but we quickly reacted and once we got back to nailing the basics we regained the momentum. There were a string of breaks and more tries from Caden Murley and ?? . A highlight was Chris Nicholls stealing the ball on our 22m line, charging down the park, handing off anyone who dared attempt to delay the express train before scoring under the posts. A fine piece of rugby. Tom Pittman converted.

Final whistle and the score was 53-0. Salisbury dominated pretty much throughout and Sherborne, despite their persistent and valiant efforts, never really looked like disturbing our rhythm. It wasn't a walkover; we fought for and retained possession, attacked constantly and our green jerseys were everywhere. As I said before the kick off; they didn't stand a chance.

Correspondent Spooks Pittman
Editor Callum MacTaggart