DEVIZES moved up into second place in Southern Counties South as they clinched a 28-17 triumph over county rivals Corsham on Saturday.

Building on two impressive recent away wins, the Saddlebacks claimed their third victory of the campaign against a side that had done the double over them last season.

The first half proved a close affair, with Devizes edging it 14-12 as second row Charlie Paget and scrum-half Andy Thompson scored converted tries, while Corsham responded with tries by Hamish Milner and Alex Bilton, the second converted by Kalif Barnes.

A third Devizes try arrived when flanker Craig Bryant used his footballing skills after spotting a mismatch in front of him to kick the ball ahead and ground it after beating the cover defence.

But again Corsham came back with try by Kalif Barnes to reduce the deficit to 21-17.

However, the home side played through the phases and it was Lewis Dodds who crashed through for the bonus point score to secure the win.

Devizes director of rugby Joe Alford said: “This was a great game of rugby from both sides.

"We soaked up a lot of pressure early on defensively and perhaps forced things a little too much.

"The second quarter was much improved as we looked after the ball much better and did our basics very well.

"We started to put pressure on ourselves by giving away some penalties early in the second half, however our relentless approach in defence and in our ball carrying helped us considerably.

"There are lots of tactical points to work on, however the heart and passion the lads showed stands us in good stead for the upcoming run of fixtures.''

Corsham head coach Tim Draper added: "It was a really good, competitive game which was very similar to the one we had with Devizes at the end of last season.

"There wasn’t much between the two teams but the difference was that Devizes took their chances to score well and we didn’t.

"We were unable to convert the territory and possession that we had in the second half into points and that’s something we need to work on over the coming weeks. In saying that, Devizes defended with real tenacity in that period and deserve credit for that.''