Witney stun Swindon (From Swindon Advertiser)

Witney stun Swindon

6:00am Wednesday 13th March 2013 in Sport By Andy Warren

SWINDON have lost their grip on third place in South West 1 East after their five-game winning run came to an abrupt end with a 23-18 defeat at Witney.

Two tries from Charlie Vine were in vain as the Greenbridge Road side were unable to make use of the limited ball they had throughout the game, and lacked the composure and defensive aggression of recent weeks.

The defeat sees them slip three points behind Reading in third with four games to play, but back rower Paul Daniels is refusing to get too down hearted.

“It was a real shame to see our winning run come to an end like it did, but five wins out of six isn’t bad,” he said.

“We just never really got going in the game, especially in the first half, and it wasn’t the same sort of Swindon performance we have been used to in the last few weeks.

“The referee’s interpretation of the rules was quite different to the way that we interpret them, and he seemed to favour the team on the front foot for most of the game, and to be fair to Witney they were that team.

“We need to learn how to beat teams like that, and that is what we will work on now.

“We’ve dropped down to fourth now but we have for games left, and we maybe have to win them all if we have a chance to finish in third.”

In Southern Counties South, Wootton Bassett lost 11-8 at home to Corsham while Supermarine’s game at home to Dorchester was abandoned due to standing water on the pitch.

Swindon College Old Boys were beaten 25-10 by Berks/Bucks & Oxon Premier leaders Stow-on-the-Wold, but Chipping Norton’s 24-0 loss at Littlemore meant they maintained their four-point advantage in third place.

“It was a real game of two halves really as we went 22-0 down at half-time, and they scored two of their tries from a couple of mistakes from us,” head coach Mark Roshier said.

“The first was from physical power play, but then it settled down a bit and I would have accepted 10-0 at half-time because we were starting to come back into the game.

“Unfortunately we made two mistakes and didn’t clear our lines and lost a line-out, and they scored from both which made it very hard for us to come back.”