Taylor hails Salisbury RFC contingent on maiden win

Racking up some heavy losses across their first ten clashes, things looked worrying for Salisbury, especially with a lack of players.

But they may have just turned a corner after picking up a fruitful 18-15 home win in their bottom-of-the-table clash with fellow strugglers Cheltenham.

Taylor, who was in charge of the team instead of head coach Neil Loader, told the Journal: “We wanted it more, our determination, passion, and sheer will to win, carried us through.

“We can take some confidence from this game but there is still a lot to work on.”

The match itself provided plenty of twists and turns at Castle Road.

Salisbury started in determined fashion and got the first points on the board through an Andy Herriott penalty.

But Cheltenham responded and a good lineout steal from Josh Green enabled the hosts to clear their lines, yet the visitors came again, displaying great hands as they moved the ball, before a thunderous tackle from Herriott averted the danger.

Cheltenham equalised through the boot of Ben Hough but Salisbury regained the lead when a swift ball to the left saw winger Drew White beat his opposite number and touchdown.

The hosts kept going and stretched their lead after the break.

But Cheltenham, determined to get a result, threw themselves forward but the home defence was exceptional, putting their bodies on the line.

The home crowd dared to believe that a victory was possible before a series of inexplicable decisions began to shake that belief.

Firstly, Cheltenham were awarded a try after the ball seemed to ground a couple of feet short of the line.

Then lock Toby Moseley was sent from the field after losing a vigorous exchange with a Cheltenham forward, who went unpunished.

Using their superior numbers, the visitors crashed over through prop John Bryant and the scores were level.

Pick up Thursday's paper to read the story in full.