SALISBURY RFC won't be signing off the year in first place after suffering a rare hiccup in their race for the South West 1 (East) title at Witney.

The slip-up, their first in nine matches, saw Dan Jeffries' men lose 28-22 and be overtaken by Towcestrians, who romped to a 45-13 win over High Wycombe.

The Castle Road outfit will have the chance to restore their lead at the start of 2016, hosting Oxford Harlequins (January 2) before travelling to the leaders (January 9) in a crunch showdown.

Salisbury started the game very quickly and were soon on the scoresheet when Tom Pottage slotted over a penalty.

Then Ollie Bowden, from a speedy series of cross filled passes, scored near to the touch line for an 8-0 advantage.

Witney then hit back with two tries of their own, both struck in similar fashion, by wingers sprinting into the corners to lead by a mere two points.

Salisbury managed to maintain pressure in the first half and were rewarded with two tries, James Kay and Tom Ranaboldo scoring and Tom Pottage converting for a 22-10 lead at the break.

But that was as good as it got for the visitors as they suffered a scoreless second 40 minutes in which Witney dominated.

A catalogue of dropped passes, knock-ons, forward passes and failures at the break down allowed Witney to take charge of the game. Salisbury failed to make any inroads and add to the score sheet while Witney scored two more tries, one of which they converted, and double penalties to win by eight points.

Salisbury seconds continued their promising start to the season with a 60-5 victory over a depleted Swanage and Wareham 2nds.