Dorset & Wilts Div One North

Fairford 21 Trowbridge II 18

A TERRIFIC first-half display and a perfect day with the boot from Sam Young saved Fairford from losing a game they had dominated in the early stages.

Fairford came out the blocks brightly and gave Trowbridge little opportunity to attack. They established superiority at the set piece and gained penalties at the scrum.

With Trowbridge proving far too vocal, Fairford soon had the referee onside which resulted in a first-half booking for the visitors and several penalties awarded against them.

The first try was created by Mike Wrona who wrought havoc all afternoon.

From a line-out, fly half Ed Keogh picked him out perfectly to run through several defenders before having the nous to offload to Charlie Peck who touched down.

Bar a couple of missed penalties Trowbridge never really threatened the Fairford line and much of the half was spent in midfield.

Fairford added another try when Wrona made a characteristic width-of-the-field break and was pulled down just short of the line. With the Trowbridge defence in tatters, Steph McCann picked up to drive over from five metres.

After a Trowbridge player was sin-binned, the home side capitalised by creating a third try.

Keogh underlined another MoM performance with a break in midfield, drawing the full back and allowing Ben Crocker to canter in under the posts.

The second half was the antithesis of Fairford's first-half display, however.

They lacked any impetus in attack and were not savvy enough to gain any territory.

But with their long-held lead coming under increasing threat in the closing moments, their defending was superb as they held on for a fourth win in five league games.