CONSTANT rain and blustery conditions greeted Salisbury at Trowbridge, as they went down 27-14 in the end.

Playing with the wind at their backs Trowbridge opened the scoring with a converted try after 10 minutes

A period of sustained pressure from Salisbury led to a break by Blake Ryder which bought in two opposition players and the offload to the excellent Alex Park gave Salisbury a well deserved try.

A conversion by fullback Adam Clayson saw the teams go level at 7-7. Salisbury added Angus Johnson to their lengthy injury list and he was replaced by Richard Smart making a welcome return to the team. Both sides struggled to gain control of the game and conceded penalties in the tough conditions. There were no further scores and the sides went in level at half time.

Tom Pottage replaced the injured Blake Ryder at the break but it was Trowbridge who scored first with a converted try.

Salisbury responded with a period of sustained forwards pressure and although Dave Tonge was held up as he dived for the line, a couple of further phases of possession saw Dan Hammond over for his fourth try in two weeks.

Another excellent conversion by Adam Clayson saw Salisbury level at 14-14.

Trowbridge added a couple of penalties to lead 20-14 but Salisbury never gave up searching for the win.

In the final minutes, an unfortunate charge-down kick near to the Salisbury line resulted in a try for Trowbridge which was converted to give them a 27-14 win.

The weather made this a tough game and whilst Salisbury still seek their first win the team, coaches and supporters can take great motivation from another spirited performance.

Director of Rugby, Richard Lloyd said: "We looked dangerous with ball in hand in the first half, and despite our lack of line out ball, played cleverly in the second. Losing Johnson, Ryder and James Kennedy (to injury) was a huge blow to us."

Saturday’s second string took on a sizeable Dorset Dockers 1st XV and a disrupted warm up led to a slow start with the visitors taking their opportunities and going three tries ahead in the first 20 minutes. Salisbury woke up, but only took seven points from their period of ascendancy with a try from Daniel Jugg, converted by Cameron Mould.

The second half mirrored the first, with Salisbury struggling to repel the strength of the Dockers’ runners. Having conceded another three tries, often against the run of play, the anger fired the Salisbury XV to dominate the final quarter and finish the game with a brilliant individual try from Henry Wilson, converted again by Mould as they lost 36-14.

Salisbury A team travelled to North Dorset for a game under Friday night lights but returned empty handed save for the experience in a close fought game losing 10-3.

The Salisbury Stones travelled to Bournemouth whose 4th XV is one of the strongest they will meet this season beating them 58-0.

Salisbury started with 13 players but were competitive throughout with old hands Chris Saunby, Mark Lerpiniere, Baz Ramsay and Mike Faull all making telling contributions, as did new boy Bill Walker but not in the way that he had hoped.