TREASURING a euphoric day in Twickenham remains on standby for Salisbury RFC after they came up short in the RFU Intermediate Cup knockout stage.

The Green and Whites aren’t used to losing games this season, after a remarkable transformation, but their hallowed cup dreams were dashed in Gloucestershire as they lost the South West Division Final to Coney Hill.

The 37-29 defeat, by the finest of margins, was Salisbury’s first since mid- November and wrecked their chances of being another 80 minutes away of reaching the home of English rugby.

The high-energized visitors failed to compete with the hosts’ physicality from word go, which reflected their leading position in Tribute Western Counties North.

A brutal 20 minutes all but sealed their fate as a lack of discipline cost Salisbury dearly and were left to wonder what might have been.

Coney Hill fizzed from the off, driving hard and committing to the rucks and mauls with a commitment that the visitors failed to match. The ball carrying strengths of the home number eight, Macrae, had been highlighted by the coach but within five minutes he scored, and converted, and Price added a second on the ten minute mark.

A further try and a penalty score saw Salisbury trailing 20-0 with a quarter of the game gone. At this point the team began to fight back.

Dave Tonge escaped the tacklers to score but was adjudged to have put a foot in touch, Tom Pottage notched three points with his boot when the hosts infringed.

This was before Tonge fed Liam Gilbert who sent Josh Green away and his welltimed pass put Tonge in for a score, Pottage converting.

A lapse of concentration saw the hosts extend their lead with a try before Luke Esnouf crashed through a row of defenders to pull the points back right on half time. Head coach Dan Jeffries made his feelings clear at the break and Salisbury started the second half with a better shape.

However, they were dealt a major blow when they were reduced to 14 men and Coney Hill took full advantage of the numerical extra, scoring two tries in ten minutes and one was converted.

Salisbury refused to lie down and launched waves of attacks, one of which was fruitful when Dom Porter crashed over the line and Gilbert converted to reduce the deficit to 15 points.

What followed was a fine move finished off by Gilbert and he added the extras to put Salisbury within touching distance at 37-29.

Salisbury hassled and harried to muster eight crucial points – a try and a penalty – but with the clock ticking, their cup time was up for another year.

They get back to their promotion bid in Southern Counties South on Saturday with the journey to Bradford-on-Avon.