On the back of a disappointing result at North Dorset a week previous, Tadley welcomed Devizes to Red Lane knowing that a much improved performance would be essential if they were to get their league campaign back on track. The home side welcomed back Rob Lowe and Duncan Harris in the pack and Alex Pike returned in the centre but was otherwise unchanged from the previous week.

The game started brightly and the home crowd were treated to some exciting running rugby backed up by a powerful forward display that saw Tadley on the front foot from the very first scrum of the day. Early pressure eventually led to the first try of the game with some good interlinking play between forwards and backs culminating in winger Mark Davies crossing in the corner.

Buoyed by their early success, Tadley stepped up the pace further and a fine backs move saw full back Charlie Cox link well with Alex Pike before cutting his way through the visitors’ defence and crossing the line under the posts. Dennison added the conversion.

The fast pace of the game continued and a fine counter-attacking move saw Alex Pike break from within the Tadley half before beating a number of defenders and offloading to Gareth Cripps-Jones who cut a fine line from his wing to score the third try of the half.

A Devizes try just before the half time whistle meant that Tadley were far from clear and dry and the talk at the break was about continuing to apply the pressure and being clinical in attack.

Playing into the strong gusting wind in the second half meant that Tadley found it more difficult to get their attacking moves going and as Devizes kicked for position, the home side were forced to defend their line and when they lost Mike Keeley to the sin bin, they had to redouble their efforts to keep the visitors from crossing their line.

Having soaked up wave after wave of attack, the line was eventually breached following a strong run from the Devizes centre and Tadley were made aware that they were still in a game. They responded positively however and again upped the pace of the game and ran hard at the opposition. Gordon Grierson in particular making some fine yards, showing nimble feet that would not have looked out of place in the backs.

Despite some further positive attacking play, Tadley were unable to add to their first half try tally and settled for another penalty from the in-form boot of fly half Dennison as they closed out the result.

This was a positive result for Tadley but it was the attitude and composure of the side that was equally pleasing. The team showed that they are capable of destructive play when they click but there is potentially a lot more to come and training over the forthcoming week will be key to ensuring they have the best possible chance of beating league rivals Frome away next weekend.

Man of the Match – Cox

Tadley- Cox(Hawker 65), Cripps-jones, Pike, Williams, Davies, Dennison, Bailey, Clifford(Grierson 50), Godfrey, Lowe, Harris, Murray©, Staley, Randall, Keeley