BRADFORD on Avon head coach Dave George admitted his side had made life unnecessarily hard for themselves despite taking a potentially huge step towards the Dorset & Wilts One North crown with a 41-32 success over closest rivals Combe Down.

The home side appeared to be cruising with a 24-6 half-time lead, courtesy of Murray Dewar's four tries and two Sam Jones conversions.

But Down's catch-and-drive strengths came into play after the break as Bradford started to fall foul of the referee and in a tight finish, Ieuan Osborne's score finally settled matters in the Wiltshire men's favour as they opened up a four-point lead at the top of the table and have a game in hand.

Rufus Faulkner-Lee also touched down for the home side, while Jones added a penalty and two further coversions.

George said: "We just seemed to get on the wrong side of the referee in the second half and started giving penalties away. They (Down) scored three catch-and-drive tries, which were all converted and it was all a bit tense at the end until the last try.

"I don't know whether they (Down) were given a rocket at half-time or we just took our foot off the gas a bit, but we were pleased to get the result and we've got a game in hand against (Royal Wootton) Bassett (2nd) this weekend Warminster got the better of Melksham 45-10 to maintain fourth spot.

Adam Davies booted a first-half penalty for Melksham, who trailed 19-3 at the interval. Josh Davies added a second-half try, converted by Davies.