MELKSHAM climbed up to third in the Dorset & Wilts One North table courtesy of a dominant 57-12 victory at home to Pewsey Vale.

The Oakfields side capitalised on a pointless weekend for Warminster, who dropped to fourth place after they were humbled 21-0 at home by Chippenham 2nd.

Melksham’s match was played in blustery wind and was evenly contested in the opening phases.

The home side were first on the scoreboard through a lineout catch-and-drive touchdown from Ashley Law, with Alistair Smith adding the extras.

Pewsey responded swiftly, going over in the corner after finding space out wide.

Melksham ramped up the territorial control, though, working their way into the Vale 22 where Callum Hurn pounced off the back of a ruck to score.

Capitalising on their momentum, Melksham struck again through Phil Stone, running directly through defenders to score and Smith’s conversion put them 19-5 up at half-time.

The second half started with the visitors getting their second try of the game but the response from Melksham crushed Pewsey’s hopes, scoring three tries in succession.

All of those came from Luke Cador, who showed his pace and agility to get around defenders in an outstanding display, with Smith converting each time.

With control of the game now fully in Melksham’s hands, Rory Mulgrew pounced on a kick ahead to score the home side’s next try.

Cador then ran in his fourth touchdown of the day before having a hand in the final points for Melksham as Ryan Brown received a pass before forcing his way through tackling defenders to cross under the posts. Smith’s conversion completed the rout.