CHIPPENHAM travelled to Wells for a friendly with a weakened side due to illness and injuries.

And with some players playing out of position against the wind and uphill in the first half, it soon became clear that Chippenham were going to struggle.

With alacklustre start they found themselves five points down within eight minutes.

From the restart Wells piled on the pressure until, against the run of play, Noble off-loaded a great ball to Rees to burst down the left wing to score, Gibson converting.

Chippenham now entered a better run of play but the scrum struggled to hold its own against a superior Wells pack and what little ball Chippenham could get was slow and scrappy.

They were desperately hoping to hold on to their slender lead until the break where they could then take advantage of the downhill slope and the wind, but Wells put paid to that with a try and conversion shortly before half time.

Looking forward to a brighter start to the second half, Chippenham were disappointed when, within the first two minutes, Wells ran clear through a non-existent defence to score and convert.

Minutes later however, Day battered his way over the line to score and Chippenham narrowed the gap to 19-12.

Wells were still a determined side and Chippenham were having to defend well. though a counter-attack saw Rees streak clear for a 60-yard run from deep in his own defence only to be deprived of a great try by an even greater defensive tackle.

Shortly afterwards however Whitehead did score a well-worked try and an excellent conversion by Gibson saw the score level.

Chippenham lost a man due to injury and were reduced to 14 men and Noble took a bad knock to the head.

But they continued and, starting the game with a five yard scrum, Chippenham called a move straight off the training ground which was executed superbly.

The scrum held firm this time and the ball was quickly secured by Ryan who delivered the perfect ball to Whitehead who popped it to Gibson which, with his superbly timed run, left the Wells defence flat-footed and he touched down under the posts. Gibson again converted.

Unluckily for Wells they restarted the game with a kick straight to Gibson.

Plucking the ball out of the air he went on a run which sliced the Wells defence apart.

He shot through and touched down under the posts and then successfully converted his own try .

Chippenham were clear, but Wells added a try and conversion to their tally before the end.

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