ONCE again Salisbury were a side short of first pick players but approached the game at Grove with a degree of confidence given their contrasting league positions.

Winger Jon Goldsmith and veteran forward Rich West, most recently seen in the third XV cup final, were paired in the back row and Gary Williamson took on the throwing in duties at the line out.

In front of a sizeable crowd and, perhaps buoyed by the spring sunshine, the home side started confidently and showed their full repertoire of skills including a drop goal, a feat not often seen at this level.

A strong running and off loading game saw Salisbury’s rather lacklustre defence stretched and then breached with increasing frequency as the half wore on.

To compound their misery the visitors seemed to be unable to put a decent passage of play together when they had possession and the loss of West, after a tackle, looked to be a further low.

At half time the score read 27-0 and the travelling support looked to be contemplating watching the Grand National rather then the second period.

However, whatever words coaches Neil Loader and Taff Bamsey uttered, backed up by skipper Josh Green, were to have a dramatic effect on the game.

A better spell saw Dan Hammond in at the corner and should have sparked a recovery but the performance remained strangely flat although the defence was far stronger.

As the home side began to tire the visitors seemed rejuvenated and Ollie Loach grabbed a brace of scores either side of Hammond’s second score to give Salisbury a bonus point.

As Grove fought to hold on to their win Jack Gurney, Goldsmith and Tom Pottage, still looking remarkably sprightly for his age, all scored tries having gained possession in their own half and made the long sprint to the line.

Nick Wotton added four conversions and an incredible 43 point comeback left the hosts and crowd stunned and a 43-27.

Salisbury entertain Marlow at Castle Road this Saturday and are hoping for a sizeable crowd to sign off their campaign.

Salisbury United suffered at the hands of a powerful Dorchester. The Dorset side had already secured the league title, and they set about Salisbury's second string amassing 96 points.

Salisbury did contribute especially in the second half and contested the full 80 minutes but their only reward was a first half try for Mark Lerpiniere converted by Jamie Wright.