TROWBRIDGE overcame the odds to get back to winning ways in South West One East with a 37-17 success away at Beaconsfield.

Dan Jeffries’ side had been beaten in their previous three matches and looked on course for another scare at the weekend when going down to 13 men for a spell in the second half.

The visitors had built up a 24-10 cushion by that stage and were determined not to give in, denying Beaconsfield any points while the hosts boasted a numerical advantage, which proved the backbone of Trowbridge’s win.

Coach Jeffries said: “We have had a couple of near-misses in the last few weeks, so on Saturday it was great to see everyone come together and put in a real team performance to get the win.

“We scored a try just before half-time to go 17-10 up and then scored another right at the start of the second half, but then we picked up two yellow cards in a matter of seconds of each other.

“We had to spend 10 minutes with only 13 men, but a sign of how strong and committed we were was that we conceded no points in that time. That was probably the turning point in the game.”

Andrew Twinney led the charge for Trowbridge with a brace of tries, while Lewis Jordan, Dave Martin and James McFarland also touched down to seal the bonus point, with Tom Weaver kicking three penalties and four conversions.

Elsewhere, Marlborough roared to a dominant 44-0 win at home to struggling Stratford Upon Avon at the weekend to climb up to second in the table.

That result saw them leapfrog fellow Wiltshire side Royal Wootton Bassett in the standings after they went down 22-19 at Old Centralians.

Marlborough made a flying start, spreading the ball wide to create an overlap for Mitieli Vulikijapani to run in the first try of the game inside two minutes.

Despite the score, Marlborough found themselves locked in a scrappy, slow game. However, good possession finally allowed them to make further headway in the 21st minute when Lemeki Moala barged his way over for a try converted by Will Grant.

Marlborough then began to show their superiority and Moala scored his second try of the game five minutes before the break after pushing over a maul following a lineout. Grant converted to extend the hosts’ lead to 19-0 at half-time.

Again, Marlborough came out of the blocks fast in the second half and another lineout maul pushed its way over the tryline, with Semisi Rasivo the man to put the ball down to secure the bonus point.

Two minutes later, Marlborough scored an almost identical try. Stratford were unable to deal with Marlborough’s powerful drive as Moala brought up his hat-trick for the day.

The weather then took a turn for the worse as the rain hammered down and the contest returned to a scrappy affair.

However, Vulikijapani was able to stretch his legs after 65 minutes and he broke the line at speed to run in a superb try and push the lead to 34-0.

Still Marlborough were not done and they scored twice more in the final eight minutes.

First, following a scrum 10m from the line, the hosts showed their strength and stamina to push their way over as Inosi Laqekoro claimed the touchdown.

Then with the last play of the game, a solid performance was rounded off by a quality team move as Vulikijapani unselfishly offloaded to Grant for try number eight to round off the scoring.

Elsewhere, Wiltshire rivals Bassett had led 19-12 at half-time against Old Centralians, but the home side battled back to turn the game around after the break, leaving the visitors to settle for a losing bonus point in a 22-19 loss.

Chippenham were on the receiving end of a second-half fightback themselves as they went down narrowly 15-14 at home to near neighbours Swindon.

Jacob Unwin’s two tries had given the hosts a 14-0 lead at Allington Fields, but they could not hold off Swindon’s resurgence after the break.