Not surprisingly both teams were rather rusty after the summer lay-off in the opening exchanges. Romsey then got organised and their excellent support play and recycling denied Salisbury possession for a lot of the first half. Salisbury's only score was a try from no. 8 Bradley Emanuel, converted by Will Mylchreest. With Romsey scoring four tries, they went into half-time leading by 24 points to 7.

Salisbury tightened up a lot after the break and the match was much more even. Salisbury scored three tries, from Tom Baish, JP McGowan, and Ed Uglow, with all three successfully converted by Ollie Norman. Romsey also scored three to make the final score Romsey 41 Salisbury 28.

After the game try-scoring prop Tom Baish said: "Not the result we wanted but there were lots of positives to take away".

Team manager Dave Veal commented that they travelled with a strong squad combining experience, youth and new club players. "Whilst a win for Salisbury was one of the goals, a well fought, competitive and enjoyable game was a great outcome. Thanks to our hosts Romsey."

See here for an album of photos from the game.

Report & photos: John Palmer