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Chippenham scrum half Tom Collins makes a break (34488/10)

Chippenham 42, Swanage and Wareham 7

CHIPPENHAM clinched the South West Two East championship and with it promotion to South West One with this comprehensive win on Saturday.

The opening exchanges were fairly even with neither team gaining the upper hand or managing to stamp any kind of dominance or authority on the game.

There were a couple of lengthy stoppages for injuries but gradually, Chippenham began to dominate.

Swanage were more than up to the challenge - their defence remained solid and were able to repel the Chippenham attacks. Several times, Chippenham showed what they are capable of, and several times had the chance to break away, but good defending, combined with dropped passes, saw the chances go begging.

Swanage looked dangerous on the break but the first 20 minutes of the first half was stop-start, with visits by the physios and referee's whistle breaking up play. Play was very scrappy and there was also a tense edge to the game and tempers at times boiled over. Chippenham had outside centre Gary Champion sin-binned for a dangerous tackle.

Swanage tried to take advantage of the extra man and put relentless pressure on the Chippenham defence. The game was stopped again for a injury to a Swanage player and from the restart Chippenham gained the opening score.

A break across field saw a maul from which prop Pete Kirby picked up and drove forward. Scrum-half Tom Collins collected the final pass and dived over the line for the opening try. Full back Karl Brant kicked the conversion and Chippenham were off and running.

From this point, the result never looked in doubt. Swanage had prop Burgess sent to the sin-bin for persistent offending and Chippenham made full use of their extra man advantage.

Their second try came from skipper James Gaiger. A lovely break by the forwards made it easy for Gaiger to collect the ball and cross the line.

Brant added the conversion and Chippenham had doubled their lead to 14-0 which was a comfortable cushion going into the half-time break.

Chippenham scored their third try straight from the start of the second half and while most of the large crowd were still making their way back to pitch-side. Brant kicked the conversion and Chippenham had immediately stretched their lead to 21-0.

Although Swanage attacked from this restart, Chippenham's confidence was rising. They turned defence into attack and patiently waited for the opportunity to pounce. It duly presented itself and flanker Stu Gun dived through for the try which was ably converted by Brant, who was having no trouble directing the ball through the posts.

Chippenham's fifth try was a fantastic effort from Grant Trewartha. The move started in Chippenham's own half and the ball moved through several pairs of hands to the waiting Trewartha who powered his way to cross the line for another converted try.

Swanage to their credit never gave up trying and were at last rewarded with a try from their hooker and skipper, Elford. Parish added the conversion and Swanage had some points on the board to show for their efforts.

The final try of the match was the best. A break out from defence from Chippenham saw the ball go through several phases of play and hands, with the final pass reaching winger Ryan Surry, who broke through several tackles on his way to the line.

The conversion was an easy kick for Brant and was the signal for the celebrations to begin.

Coach Nick Corrigan said: "The boys were outstanding. Everything that the coaches had asked of them during training in the week came together. It was a fantastic all-round performance."

Man-of-the-match was Stuart Gunn.

11:58am Monday 14th April 2008

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