Salisbury 21 - Henley Wanderers 9
Apr
Salisbury guaranteed their place in the play off with a not so convincing performance, as in the previous week against High Wycombe. Henley Wanderers playing to save themselves from relegation visited Castle Road with bold intent. Initially the visitors had the upper hand and Salisbury found it frustratingly difficult to get any rythymn. Several ground errors were committed by the Salisbury 8 which allowed Henley's fly half Metcalfe to step up and take their first penalty to go ahead. Another error by Salisbury in the 10th minute allowed the 10 another penalty opportunity for holding on to the ball on the ground. Salisbury, however, showed glimpses of their brilliance throwing the ball wide to their speedy outriders only to be stopped in their tracks by a resiliant Henley defence. In the 15th minute another penalty was awarded to the visitors with a Salisbury player not rolling away from the tackle, and another 3 points were added for Henley to go 9 points ahead. Approaching half time to make matters worse Salisbury No. 8 Luke Bugden was sin binned for a professional foul. This meant Salisbury going into the break 9 points adrift and the prospect of the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half with 14 men.
A stern team talk by Head Coach John Kimberley eventually put Salisbury back on track, albeit with staggered and intermitent form. It wasn't until the 52nd minute when the home side was awarded a penalty, which Dave Bell duly slotted that the situation began to turn. The lineout was not going well throughout the day for Salisbury, due to a re-shuffle bedcause of the late fitness test failure of regular Hooker Nick Taylor. Nevertheless Salisbury, now gathering valuable possession, saw Dave Bell breach the game line to cleverly grub a kick through for Phil Carr to gather and go over for Salisbury's first try which was not converted. A Henley player infringed offside and Bell stepped up to add a further 3 points to go ahead for the first time in the game in the 70th minute. Instrumental throughout the day Bell deservedly picked up a short range try bursting through the cover defence to score and edge further ahead. Henley continued to make life difficult for Salisbury but the home side had enough grip and composure to launch another attack, this time on the right hand side of the field with several phases of play seeing Alex Penny bulldozing his way through several desperate defenders to go over in the far right hand corner.
Salisbury now travel to Barnstaple next Saturday 26th April with a kick off at 3 p.m. for a finale play off game with South West One promotion the prize. Barnstaple, with an identical record to Salisbury, but with a better points difference gain home advantage. A supporters coach will be available, departing at 9.30 a.m. from Castle Road. Anyone wishing to attend should contact the club on 01722 325317.
Salisbury 2nd XV finished their league campaign on a high note with a convincing victory over North Dorset 25-10. This puts them on 2nd place just a few points behind Swanage and Wareham 2nd XV.
Salisbury 3rd XV rounded off their season by winning the Dorset & Wilts 3rd team cup against Chippenham by 21 -12.
Salisbury 1st XV. Phil Chesters, Tom Pottage, Christian Metson, Terry Gilmour, Phil Carr, Dave Bell (Captain), Tim Shipsey, Phil Sutton, Richard West, Adam Misselbrook, Dave Thorpe, Jack Fishwick, John Guy, James Kay, Luke Bugden. Replacements Alex Penny, Charlie Starkey, Richard Roe.
