SWINDON made easy work of treacherous conditions to see off Marlow 45-0 in South West 1 East on Saturday.

Amidst howling gales, on a churned-up surface at Greenbridge Road, the hosts turned a 12-0 half-time lead into a comfortable victory to keep hold of fourth place in the league table.

For fly-half Adam Westall the result was more important than the performance in testing circumstances after the recent heavy rain in Wiltshire.

“The pitch was horrendous, as you can imagine,” he said. “The weather deteriorated from bright sunshine to almost galf-force winds and lashing rain but in the end we played into the wind first half and came out 12-0 up and had the wind behind us in the second half, which made life a bit easier.

“Those conditions are levellers. When you play teams that are high up or low down it comes down to basic skill levels and a little bit of accuracy and being a bit patient.

“We were probably a little bit guilty of chucking it around too much in the second half but at the same time we were confident enough to have a go.

“It was about finding that balance and getting a result, which was key.”

Westall ran in one try and struck five conversions, while Tom Mannion and David Cox both scored braces and Steve Price and Ben Saville also crossed the whitewash for Swindon.

The win means Westall & Co are within eight points off second-placed Towcestrians with nine games of the season remaining, but they’re also just 12 points ahead of Grove in ninth.

“It’s a funny league,” the Swindon captain said. “You could lose a couple more and be fourth or fifth from bottom or you could win a couple more and be second in the league.

“It’s quite a scary prospect in that respect but it keeps it keen and keeps it fresh in terms of it still being all to play for.

“If we can get to around 55 or 60 points we’re relatively safe from relegation.

“As weird as that sounds it’s not inconceivable with 10 games left that it could fall into us battling and end up in a scenario like that.

“That’s how tight the league is and shows how important it is to keep pushing on and getting the wins we need.”

Royal Wootton Bassett were without a game in Southern Counties North this weekend, while Supermarine did not have a fixture in Dorset & Wilts 1 North.