MARK Simmons is preparing his CATs for a dogfight after dragging Dorchester into the Southern Counties South relegation mix.

With just four league fixtures remaining, three points separate seventh-placed Dorchester from second-bottom CATs. The Melksham men tackle rivals Trowbridge in the season finale on April 22, which Simmons knows could end in heartbreak for one of the Wiltshire clubs.

He said: "It would be really exciting if everything came down to the last day, but both clubs will want to be safe by then.

"The result against Dorchester leaves everything in the mix. There are now five teams looking to avoid the drop and everyone is capable of beating each other."

Simmons said he was impressed with the way his players responded to the previous week's drubbing at the hands of Stothert and Pitt in the Bath Combination Cup.

"We were awesome in the first half," he said. "Dorchester never even got into our half. We just battered them.

"But we didn't turn all our possession into points. We were not clinical enough in certain areas of the pitch, which I think is down to the age of the side.

"To be fair to Dorchester they sorted themselves out and improved a lot in the second half. We got drawn into a bit of a scrap.

"Pressure is a horrible thing and once they scored errors started to creep in. We began to panic and tried to do silly things like off-load the ball from the floor.

"I thought it was going to be another one of those games where we let ourselves down in the last 10 minutes, but we came through it."

Full back James Ponsford touched down to give CATs an early five- point lead. Outside centre Danny Wells split the Dorchester defence again before the break to put the hosts 10-0 in front.

Ponsford kicked a second half penalty before a converted Dorchester try made the last 20 minutes uncomfortable for the CATs supporters.

Simmons hopes the win will inspire his players to another battling performance when they tackle promotion-chasing Devizes at London Road tomorrow.

"Devizes are always a good, solid side with a strong pack. We will have to be at our best," he said.