SWINDON St George suffered a first defeat of the season on Saturday when they were narrowly beaten 32-26 at home by Portsmouth Seahawks.

Ben Whincup’s side had battled back from a 28-14 deficit early in the second half to cut the gap to just two points in the dying minutes at Supermarine RFC, only for a last-gasp Portsmouth try to kill off their hopes.

Sam Collins, Tommy White, Florin Placau, Dec Labrosse and Connor Tomley all touched down for Swindon, with the latter adding six points with the boot.

“It was a very close game, very nip and tuck throughout and no team really managed to take control,” said Whincup.

“We were unlucky that a couple of decisions at the end didn’t go our way but we really shouldn’t have been in that position to begin with, we should have been away and clear by then.

“We’re disappointed to lose that unbeaten record but we’re still at the top of the table and you can’t be in a better position than that.

“We know what we have got to build on from that defeat. We will work on it and hopefully come back stronger in our next game.”

Swindon started promisingly and led 10-4 early on, only for the Seahawks to take control of the game with three unanswered tries.

The hosts were able to narrow the half-time deficit to 18-14 but Portsmouth were again able to pull clear on the scoreboard after the break.

Despite the defeat, St George remain top of the West of England Pool Two table in the South West League as the only team to win three of their opening four fixtures.

St George have no game this weekend and return to action on July 1 when they travel to Southampton Sonics.