CORSHAM suffered a heavy defeat at home to Southern Counties South leaders Sherborne, going down 38-3 at the weekend.

Tim Draper’s side conceded six tries on the day and had only a Kalif Barnes penalty to show for their efforts.

Down 26-3 at half-time, Corsham did managed to restrict their visitors to two tries in the second half, but were unable to stage any sort of fightback.

Head coach Draper said: “Sherborne are the standout team in the league this season and they showed why they are the favourites for promotion.

“They really gave us a lesson in how to take your scoring opportunities.

“I was pleased with the way that we matched them in certain areas of the game, though, and the fighting spirit we showed throughout.

“We definitely learnt a few things from the game that will help us to improve moving forward.”

There was also disappointment for Devizes as a 16-12 loss at home to North Dorset saw them suffer a third straight defeat.

The visitors started the better as their big ball-carrying forwards made inroads into the Devizes defence. Although the home side defended well, a quick North Dorset tap penalty allowed them to score the opening try.

Devizes respond well and whipped the ball wide to Chris Barter, but he knocked on with the tryline in his sights, and the hosts were then left to rue a further missed chance as Scott Martin was held up over the line.

That was to prove costly before the break as North Dorset surged up the other end of the pitch to score a second try and take a 10-0 lead into the changing rooms.

Almost 10 minutes of the second half had passed before Devizes saw some more front-front ball, and they made the most of it as Will Hine broke through before offloading to Jorge Wadman to touch down, converted by Barter.

This rallied Devizes, but further chances to score were spurned when Travis Orwin was held up over the line before Craig Bryant was adjudged to have knocked on when reaching for a try.

North Dorset were able to clear the danger and then capitalised to pressure the Devizes defence into giving away a penalty, which was duly slotted to make it 13-7.

Another North Dorset pulled them nine points clear and although Devizes scored a second try when John Bramwell dived over in the corner, there was no time left to continue the comeback as the hosts came up short.

Bradford on Avon remain at the foot of the table without a win to their name after going down 24-5 at home to Swindon College Old Boys.