Saltash kicked off playing away from the club house, the match impacted by rain throughout the first half. It was the servicemen who had much the better of the territory and possession in the first half, although could not convert it into points with the Ashes line holding firm.

It wasnt until the half hour that the scoreboard was troubled when Ashes fly half kicked a penalty to nudge his side in front, which they extended almost immediately when full back Henry Taylor pounced on a loose ball to go over for an unconverted try for an 8-0 lead after 3` minutes.

The visitors responded with a converted try of their own in the 35th minute to reduce the gap to just a point.

Saltash were back again and a penalty try at the end of the half saw them go in at the break 15-7 up.

The second half was a more open affair, although Saltash paid for unfortunate injuries to concede a number of scrums to a more physical Services scrum.

Saltash to their credit are learning how to manage games more effectively and extended the lead in the 47th minute with a further Pritchard penalty countered by a well taken try from Services centre to close the gap at 18-12.

Pritchard added a further penalty in the 67th minute to extend the lead, queuing up a tense last 10 or so minutes for the home crowd to seal his side's 21-12 win.

Ashes' Supporters star player was Winger Ryan Cruickshanks, and there were also dogged performances from fly half Bill Dover, lock Tom Hoban and hooker Fin Jones. They have a week off to lick their wounds before visiting Cullompton next time out.