Relegation fears for Salisbury after Winchester defeat

The hosts started positively and played with ambition during the first half which was in stark contrast to the second half in which Winchester pulled away to record a 5-37 away win.

Salisbury were determined to attack Winchester from the start, they moved the ball fluently and used Will Murley’s pace running from depth effectively.

It was however never quite enough. Winchester’s defence was robust and well marshalled and the hosts could never completely break it down.

Centre Bond Carter breaks away

They did however generate momentum through forwards Dom Porter, Bobby Brown, James Kennedy and Mike Adams.

Their cause was aided by early dominance in the scrummage and by the visitor’s frequently malfunctioning lineout.

Winchester opened the scoring with a penalty on 15 minutes.

Salisbury responded shortly afterwards with a try for prop Gareth Blackborow from a driving maul initiated at an attacking lineout.

The visitors managed a try and another penalty to finish the half 5-11 leaders, a fair reflection of play.

Early in the second half Winchester began to find their rhythm.

Fly-half Tom Tully makes a break

Lineout and scrummaging problems were rectified and, correspondingly, pressure on Salisbury began to build along with the penalty count entering the final quarter.

After a warning and with the score at 5-30 in favour of the visitors, Salisbury received the first of two yellow cards in the last ten minutes.

With only four minutes remaining and with a numerical advantage, Winchester added a further converted try to finish 5-37 winners.

Now positioned 11th, Salisbury will be concerned about relegation.

There is a six-point deficit to make up on Chichester who sit 10th in Regional 2 South Central with only seven fixtures remaining of the league season.