Dorset & Wilts Div One West

Fairford 12 Marlborough 55

FAIRFORD were blown away by league contenders Marlborough as they struggled to keep pace with one of the table toppers.

Fairford experienced the worst possible start as they were behind almost immediately from the kick-off when the visitors’ centre made a break and finished it himself.

The bad start was compounded by Fairford conceding another two tries in quick succession. The Badgers weren’t able to keep the ball with any composure and Marlborough were well worth their lead.

After conceding a fourth try the home team rallied to put in a valiant 30-minute period. They stemmed the flow of tries and showed promise in attack, carrying the ball with much more confidence. This resulted in a try before the interval when Luke Sawyer offloaded to his front-row companion Ben Goodey to score in the corner.

Fairford were able to keep the same intensity going shortly after the interval and sandwiched between a further Marlborough try they grabbed themselves another. Pressure on the Marlborough line gave Jack Irwin the opportunity to hack the ball forward, only to be obstructed off the ball, resulting in a penalty try.

Marlborough emptied their talented bench and a few more tries resulted but although Fairford showed patches of good defence and grit, it was not enough to close the gulf between the two sides.