Trowbridge 41, Bridport 0

WINGER Joe Knight was the hat-trick hero as Trowbridge turned in their best performance of the season at Green Lane.

The hosts scored six unanswered tries to give Bridport the boot and pull away from the Dorset outfit in the Southern Counties South table.

Trowbridge skipper Nick Lawes said he felt confident of victory on Saturday when he looked around the dressing room before the game.

Lawes said: "It was definitely the strongest team we have fielded this year. We even had to put our centre Adam Sullivan out on the wing to make way for Alex Hill coming back.

"It didn't make much difference because Sully (Sullivan) was awesome out on the wing - we knew he would be."

Lawes believes a weaker side would have struggled against Bridport, who never gave up despite the one-sided scoreline.

He said: "We fielded a much weaker side last week and beat Wallingford, who were not the strongest side we have played.

"I think we might have struggled against Bridport if we'd named the same team. That's not a criticism of the players who came in last week, but we really wanted to put out our strongest possible side. Our backs were far superior to the Bridport backs and that was the big difference."

Knight led the way with three touchdowns, while Sullivan, blindside flanker James Lawes and centre Ali Lund each score one try. Lund also kicked four conversions and a penalty to take the Trowbridge points tally to 41.

Captain Lawes was equally impressed with the Trowbridge defence, who managed to keep a clean sheet for the first time this season.

He said: "Bridport looked like they would score on a few occasions but we managed to keep them out. That was a really good effort because it means our points average is looking quite healthy now. The other teams around us all have negative averages and we are on plus 42. Hopefully we can keep that going now."

Trowbridge travel to third place Wimborne tomorrow looking to record a third consecutive win. Lawes hopes to name an unchanged side for the clash at Leigh Park.