James leads Corsham try spree
Corsham went close to their second successive half-century league haul as they beat Bradford 48-5 in their Dorset and Wilts Division One encounter at Lacock Road.
Having beaten Westbury 51-7 in their opening fixture, the Corsham outfit bounced back to action with another convincing victory.
The enforced one-week break, due to an 11-team division structure, showed in the early stages as the home side's passing faltered.
Denzil Brockhurst eventually nudged Corsham ahead with a penalty but it was not long before Chris Walker breached the visitors' defences with a smartly taken try.
The centre showed his paces again to dart over for a second try, once again converted by Brockhurst for a 17-0 lead, and at that stage Corsham were threatening to run riot.
Scrum-half Chris Jones finished off the best move of the match as he profited from a neat inside pass to go over, and flanker Chris James completed the first-half scoring for a 29-0 interval lead.
The home side, guilty at times of over-eagerness and forcing the game, were rocked back on their heels when Bradford pinched a try back early in the second half through veteran hooker Julian Tucker.
They also lost number Ben Russell to the sin bin for a technical offence, but that only served to galvanise their forward effort, and with back row Ian McNerlin and skipper and fly-half Haydn Brockhurst at the heart of most things, they managed to repel the visitors' efforts and resume their domination.
Openside James grabbed his second try, converted by Craig Avent, and, after returning from the sin bin, Russell took charge of a splintered Bradford scrum to run through.
Corsham lost another player, second row Mick Mealing, to the sin bin in the latter stages, but there was still time for loosehead Ed Minty to complete the scoring.
Corsham coach Scott Gilmour said: "Initially, I was very happy indeed with a win and seeing things we work on in training now paying rewards.
"That said, when I thought about the game in more detail I found numerous flaws in our performance and there are a number of issues which need to be addressed, especially if we play against a better drilled and more disciplined team than Bradford on Avon.
"Generally, though, I'm happy with the start to the season, not just the first team but also the second string. Numbers in training are high and there is a lot of competition around which is great for the club.
"As long as we can keep free of injuries, what we want now is to see steady improvement and development. Rugby is a funny old game, because if it isn't right upstairs in your head to start with you can lose a match before you even tie up your bootlaces.
"My job is to make sure they are ready to go before every game and if they are, then our form could possibly improve over the season."
