On a grey and heavy afternoon conditions mirrored what would become a tense and hard-fought encounter.

The visitors made a blistering start, striking twice within the opening six minutes to establish a 0–12 lead. Despite Salisbury’s committed defensive effort, Ellingham & Ringwood’s structure and powerful ball-carrying saw them dominate the early exchanges.

Gradually, Salisbury grew into the match, securing territory and building sustained pressure. Their persistence was rewarded shortly before half-time when Gemma Snell broke through the midfield and delivered an excellent offload to Molly Earnshaw, who finished under the posts. Earnshaw added the conversion to narrow the deficit to 7–12 at the interval.

Salisbury carried their momentum into the second half and immediately put the visitors on the back foot. Ten minutes after the restart, Earnshaw picked from the base of a scrum and powered over for her second try of the afternoon, before converting once more to give Salisbury a 14–12 lead.

From the ensuing restart, Salisbury resumed their attacking intent, though Ellingham & Ringwood’s defensive resilience made clear chances difficult to come by. With ten minutes remaining, Niamh Bryne exploited a rare gap in the defence, accelerating past two defenders to score a superb solo try. The conversion struck the post, leaving Salisbury 19–12 ahead and seemingly in control.

However, Ellingham & Ringwood produced a late response. With six minutes left, a well-executed clearance from their fly-half turned defence into attack, bouncing deep into the Salisbury 22. The visitors regathered the ball and crossed beneath the posts, converting to level the match at 19–19.

Despite late efforts from both sides, neither could find the decisive score, and the match concluded in a hard-earned draw.

This fixture marked Salisbury’s fifth outing of the season as the squad continues to build towards joining a league next year. The team is actively welcoming new players of all experience levels. Anyone interested in giving rugby a try is encouraged to attend training at Salisbury Rugby Club on Tuesdays from 6:30pm to 8:00pm.

See here for an album of photos from the match

Report: Tara Green
Photos: John Palmer