PEWSEY gained the upper hand in the scrum early in their Dorset & Wilts One North clash, pressurising the Devizes eight for the remainder of the match.

Five minutes in Devizes missed a penalty shot after Vale had strayed offside but after a quarter of an hour, centre James Haynes looped with wing Roko Rokowai to score in the corner.

Devizes came back strongly and were rewarded with a penalty, fly-half Matty Holloran taking the three points.

The Pewsey pack continued to probe forward with good carries from number eight Phil Vallis, flankers Chis and Olly Spence and hooker Jeremy Horton.

A collapsed scrum 10 minutes before half time resulted in a penalty to Vale and quick ball sent Haynes over for his second try.

Just before half time Devizes’ first try was worked from a lost Pewsey lineout when the ball was tapped down and pounced on, flanker Tom Moon going in for the five-pointer Pewsey attacked from the restart.

The game was becoming fractious and the referee yellow carded Pewsey’s Chris Spence and Devizes Tim Alchin after four minutes.

With both teams down to 14 men Vale were in attack mode but were caught out when Devizes wing Chris Barter snaffled the ball and scored near the posts, Holloran adding the extras.

The final half hour saw Vale battering towards Devizes’ line.

The home side were tenacious in defence, scrambling left and right, but Vale centre Joe Tavaga scored a brace of tries in the last 15 minutes, the first converted by Haynes.

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