Salisbury's pre-season preparation concluded with a trip to Gosport & Fareham. Despite being a clear day a strong wind presented difficult conditions for both teams. Salisbury, led ably by Gilbert at No 8, started well and produced some strong drives but lost early possession and instantly presented Gosport with a scoring opportunity which they seized upon in the 8th minute. The home side were then able to consolidate using the wind to their advantage pegging Salisbury back in their own half. The visitor's back row of Taylor, Kay and Gilbert (pictured), though, worked hard and proved to be a highly effective unit. The Salisbury scrum was also looking good, as was the lineout, and scrum-half Tonge was able to distribute the ball effectively for Pickford to exploit.

In the 34th minute, Salisbury pieced together some piercing runs and, from a lineout near the Gosport line, prop Daniels scored. The

conversion from Pickford led to a 7-7 scoreline. The visitors were intent on running rugby, and after good interpassing between forwards and backs the pacy Upton scored in the 37th minute making the score 12-7. Gosport were not willing to let the game slip and worked hard throughout the first half. They exploited some Salisbury indecision in the 40th minute to score a try and conclude the half at 12-12.

The first few minutes of the second half were dominated by Salisbury. Control, ambition and the ability to off-load quickly created a further try and a 19-12 scoreline. The visitors did however make replacements and lost continuity for twenty minutes. The Salisbury scrum was under threat from a tough Gosport pack and a backline that had adapted well to playing against the wind. A Gosport penalty was added to the scoreline on the 49th minute closing the deficit at 19-15. Then two quick fire Gosport tries made it 29-19 in their favour. Missed tackles and a lack of possesion placed Salisbury at risk of losing the match. Archer came to the rescue with a 50 metre scamper to score making it 29-24 with 10 minutes remaining. Almost from the restart, Gosport were slow to clear and, through excellent chasing and tackling, Salisbury were able to turnover the ball which led to a second try for White under the posts making the final score 31-29 to the visitors. It is clear that Salisbury are well prepared for league rugby and face Frome at Castle Road on Saturday in their first Southern Counties (South) fixture.