Grove 29, Trowbridge 10

GROVE will play in South West 1 East next season after winning an entertaining play-off at Cane Lane.

Although Grove outscored Trowbridge by six tries to two, this Southern Counties shootout was far from one-way traffic.

The visitors showed great spirit to battle back from 27-3 down to trail just 27-20 in the second half.

At one point, it looked as if Trowbridge, who were coached by former Bath and England forward Steve Ojomoh, might draw level as their tenacious pack and strong tactical game held sway.

But Grove’s flair ultimately proved decisive as wings Guy Nicholl and Harry Carr bagged tries No 5 and 6 in the final ten minutes.

The hosts started strongly with the wind behind them and were ahead on six minutes with a very well worked try.

Fly half Dave Maryon’s flick pass and full back Roger Sevier’s chip allowed Carr to sprint under the posts. Roger Sevier converted.

Centre Joe Bellinger wreaked havoc for Grove with his direct running – and added the next two tries.

The first was a simple finish on the right, the second a more emphatic effort under the posts.

In between, Maryon was sin-binned and Trowbridge fly half Lloyd Davis slotted the resulting penalty.

Grove led 27-3 on the half hour thanks to a Roger Sevier penalty and No 8 Ben Nicholl’s try, which saw him pick a superb line from scrum half Owen Gustafson’s pass.

Trowbridge prop Sam Edwards forced his way over on the right, with Davis converting, and the visitors ended the half with momentum.

This spilled over into the second half, where Davis kicked well with the wind behind him.

Ben Nicholl was sin-binned as Trowbridge put Grove’s scrum under pressure and they hit back with Edwards’s second close-range try.

Davis converted this and a penalty before Grove were finally able to spend some time in the visitors’ half.

The decisive moment came when Gustafson’s clever pass found Guy Nicholl at full tilt to power over in the corner.

Carr added the icing on the cake with three minutes to go, when he sidestepped through a tiring defence and Roger Sevier converted. Grove were able to play out time before the champagne celebrations began.

Grove: R Sevier (N Sevier 45), Carr, Burns (Clipsham 45), Bellinger, G Nicholl, D Maryon (R Sevier 70), Gustafson, Eckert (capt), Dixey, Lane (Walsh 38), Wright, Miles, Alder, Wells, B Nicholl. Rep not used: Lewis.

Referee: A Gaynor (London).

Man-of-the-match: B Nicholl.