Marlborough 81 – 5 Salisbury
On Saturday, Marlborough hosted Salisbury on the Common. It has been a few seasons since these two teams have clashed, and some of the old brigade could remember the time when they put over 100 points on Marlborough. Again, this was a step into the unknown for Marlborough in this, their fifth game of the season in the Regional 2 Tribute South Central League.
The sun was out on the Common but there was a bit of a stiff breeze, which would be an issue for the kickers. The referee blew for the start of the game, but it was not the start Marlborough wanted. Salisbury grabbed the game, scoring an unconverted try from a driving maul within three minutes. Marlborough got sucked into Salisbury’s game, racking up handling errors and penalties. To add further insult, Acardia Seruvatu (Aka) received a yellow. Eventually, after fifteen minutes, Marlborough won an attacking scrum. Then, with some quick hands, the ball was effortlessly passed along the line to the outside centre, Joe Pittams, who beat his man to score in the corner. Sadly, the breeze curtailed the conversion by Will Grant.
Marlborough’s nerves seemed to settle, and they started to play their game. The next score came from Oscar Tamani; a clearing kick caught by outside half, Will Reeve, set up an attack via Ben Fulton and Acarida Seruvatu (Aka) for Oscar to score, which was duly converted by Will Grant.
Five minutes later, Marlborough’s number eight, Insosi Laqekoro (Knoxy), picked up from the base of the scrum, tying in the defence, passed to Ben Fulton, who off loaded to the Marlborough skipper, Ollie Spanswick, to score a converted try.
With the last play of the first half, Marlborough won the line out, and with quick Marlborough hands along the line to full back, Weir Filikitonga, having his first game of the season following an injury, beat the last man to score to score a converted try.
Half-Time: Marlborough 26 – Salisbury 5
Marlborough’s coaches, Elisi and Vili were not overly impressed with the team’s first twenty minutes of play. The players didn’t need telling they had let themselves down, but with some good, constructive and positive halftime talk, they came out of the blocks firing on all cylinders for the second half.
The second half started well with Marlborough producing an attack kick through from Will Reeve for the back row, which James Marshall gathered and scored a converted try.
The next two tries came in quick succession. The first resulted from a clearing kick which was caught by Aka, passing to Will Reeve, who then passed it out to Callum Hunt, who made a powerful run on the wing, offloading to Insosi Laqekoro (Knoxy) to score another unconverted try.
The next one was straight from the kick off; caught, then passed to inside centre, Ben Fulton, to score a converted try with the help of Will Grant’s boot.
The home side were now dominating the game. The Marlborough scrum was awesome throughout the game. The reliability of the front row; Ash Horner, Solomone Aniseko (Seko)and Lemeki Moala (Meki) were all on song. Even when Simon Pilkington came on as a replacement for Meki, the scrum still didn’t miss a beat.
The next try came in the fifty-fifth minute; Marlborough won the line out again, and good Marlborough hands passed the ball along to the full back, and Weir Filikitonga came in the line to score his second try, which was converted by Will Grant.
Five minutes later, Joe Pittams got his second try of the day, which was a cheeky interception to score under the posts, kindly converted by Will Grant.
The tries were coming in thick and fast, and it was almost embarrassing. A quickly taken tap penalty resulted in front row replacement, Simon Pilkington, charging over the line to score an unconverted try.
Following the kick off, Knoxy caught the ball and, with a powerful run, passed to Ollie Spanswick, who then passed out to Oscar Tamani to score his second try of the game, which was sadly unconverted.
The next try came from a line out win, followed by a storming charge from Will Reeve to replacement centre, Viliame Waqanidrola (Qila), taking out two defenders in the process before passing to Callum Hunt to score, which was kindly converted by Will Reeve, who had taken over kicking duties.
Marlborough’s final try of the game came within the dying minutes of the second half. A pickup from the scrum was quickly passed out to Aka to score an unconverted try.
Final Score: Marlborough 81 – Salisbury 5
The score line may have been high for Marlborough, but things looked very different in the early part of the game. Fortunately, the boys kept their heads, got back into playing their game and the rugby flowed better. This gave the Marlborough spectators and coaches a bit of a scare, and the players know what needs to be addressed.
Team Manager, Dave Pittams, explained, “The change in formation of going from five strong ball-carrying forwards to three did work, but it was at the detriment of the lineouts. Other teams would punish this weakness and maximise on the opportunity.”
Overall, it was a successful outcome for Marlborough, who now have a week’s break before travelling up to Warwickshire, where Marlborough will meet for the first time Shipston-on-Stour on October 15.
Arrest made on suspicion of attempted murder following a stabbing in Pewsey last night
