ANY cup nerves were extinguished as Salisbury RFC’s season got even better with a pivotal cup win over Thatcham as they made another stride towards reaching Twickenham.

The Green and White troops booked their place in the next round of the Southern Counties Intermediate Cup after defeating Thatcham 29- 0, which was witnessed by more than 300 supporters at Castle Road.

The much-anticipated tie involving Salisbury, who had rallied round to drum up local support ahead of the crunch fixture, provided the spectators with plenty of entertainment.

But it wasn’t for half-anhour until the deadlock was broken, Tom Pottage converting a penalty to get three points on the board. And seven minutes later, they were 10-0 courtesy of Tom Ranaboldo crashing over the line and Pottage adding the extras. Salisbury ensured they were in cruise control and entered the half time interval 17-0 ahead after Jon Goldsmith scored a try near the post and, again, Pottage used his prolific foot to convert it.

Thatcham, who came to south Wiltshire with a focused game plan, stifled Salisbury’s forward play on the odd occasion but they failed to ever get into their own.

Mindful coach Dan Jefferies rotated the team; James Kaminski went in soon after the restart to give the hosts a 22-0 advantage. With the win intact, Pottage, eager to score one of his signature individual tries, darted past his opponents’ defence to duly dive under the posts and convert, which provided the last score of the afternoon.

The next round of the cup will see Salisbury go to High Wycombe two weeks on Saturday.

  • Two points was the difference in North Dorset, as Salisbury Colts surrendered in the last minute to lose 13- 11 overall.