TROWBRIDGE head coach Dan Jeffries was delighted with his side after they inflicted an impressive 30-22 defeat on table-topping Sherborne to breathe new life into the Southern Counties South title race.

Prior to the fixture, Sherborne had a perfect record of 11 wins from 11 games at the top of the standings.

But Shai Bonnick featured in the scoring on his return to action for Trowbridge, following a two-month break, with two tries which were both converted by Tom Weaver.

Weaver also landed two penalties in the club’s first win of 2018, while a penalty try rounded out the tally.

While Jeffries says it was good to have Bonnick back, he may have to cope without the centre as he is ruled out with a head injury sustained over the weekend.

The Trowbridge chief says it is important his team maintain the momentum gained from their eye-catching win, as they look to close the gap on Sherborne and second-placed Marlborough, whom they are three points behind.

“It’s always a tough trip and it is always difficult to get points out of the game, but we started well and I’m really happy with the players,” said Jeffries.

“We are in the position we wanted to be in with players returning, we have to keep our momentum “Shai is a huge loss for us. He’s too strong for most people and when he isn’t, he’s such a good athlete it is hard for people to get a hand on him.

“He’s been in Jamaica for the last two months so it’s a bit of a blow, but our depth is good and it will only be a problem if he and a few others are out.”

Next up for Trowbridge is a home clash to strugglers Swanage & Wareham, who are second-from-bottom in the standings.

“Swanage are a big club and they will be fighting for their lives, we need to make sure we play straight forward rugby because they will be a tough team,” added Jeffries.

“It will be a really big game, I predict they will play themselves out of the relegation zones, they have the players to call upon if they need to.”

Corsham were soundly beaten 55-0 at Marlborough on Saturday.