CAPTAIN Tom Smith led from the front as his century guided Corsham to just a third win of the Premier Two Glos/Wilts season – a 24-run success at home to bottom side Trowbridge.

Smith blasted 123 off 94 balls and shared a fourth wicket partnership of 174 with Tom Abbott (79) as Corsham racked up a sizeable total of 321-8 off their 50 overs.

Harry Veal led the Trowbridge bowling attack, returning figures of 4-33.

Feeling confident as they took to the field, Corsham’s control began to slip in the face of a fine opening partnership for the visitors.

Sam Julyan (70) and Tom Oakley (66) shared a stand of 127 before the latter became the first man to depart.

Trowbridge continued to threaten the target, but Corsham kept them in check with wickets at regular intervals and Tom Weaver’s troops were still well short at 297-7 after their 50 overs ended.

Corsham's win over Trowbridge starts a run of three games in a row against the other sides in the bottom four in the table – they also play Stroud and Dumbleton – and captain Smith says now is the time to hit form.

"The season has been a bit harder than we would have liked and we haven't clicked with either the bat or the ball," said Smith.

"Going into this phase of the season, if we can pick up a few wins, we might find ourselves climb towards the middle of the table, which is where we want to be.

"It was nice to score a century on Saturday, it's been a while since I have got one. Hopefully I can build on that from a personal point of view.

"We were still confident even despite Trowbridge's good start with the bat, although obviously it didn't go to plan straight away.

"When you have 300 on the board, you feel like you're in a safe position, but when the opposition come out and play the way they did, it makes for a really good game of cricket.

"We need to use this result to build some momentum and put a few wins together."

Elsewhere, Chippenham took over at the top of the table following a 214-run thrashing of previous leaders Thornbury.

Opener Chris Munden blasted 107 and Graeme Van Buuren added an unbeaten 96 – the pair sharing a third-wicket stand of 106 – as home side Chippenham posted a daunting 326-4.

Van Buuren then led the charge in the field, taking 4-19 as Thornbury were dismissed for just 112 inside 34 overs.

Superb bowling from Joe King led Goatacre to a five-wicket win away at Burbage & Easton Royal.

King took 6-25 as Burbage were bowled out for just 106 and the Goats needed less than 28 overs to chase that down, Jack Haines (44) top scoring in a winning 107-5.

Finally, Biddestone were beaten by three wickets at home by Stroud.

Dominic Hendricks hit 71 as Biddestone posted 207-9, with Keegan Petersen taking 5-46 for Stroud.

The visitors then eased home with 10 balls to spare in reply, with Petersen again to the fore as he scored 77 in his side’s 211-7.