SWINDON Storm showed their strength in depth as a team including several rookies thundered to a 39-12 victory over Portsmouth Dreadnoughts on Sunday.

Coming off a victory in their last outing against Bristol Apache, Storm were always in control and found themselves 25-0 up at the break thanks to two scores apiece for both the offence and the defence.

Dreadnoughts, who are in their first competitive season, came back after the break to limit the damage but the win was already secured.

Head coach Steve Bennett used the game against an inexperienced side to field several of his new players and was pleased with how they got on.

“We went through quite an extensive affiliate process to get into the league but Portsmouth managed to go through that one quite quickly, in just a matter of months, so were in the position we were in at the start of last season,” he said.

“They’ve got the foundations of a good club but were maybe a bit behind in terms of stuff on the field, so we didn’t want to go too hard on them and saw a chance to get as many of our new players some time on the field.

“It’s important we get these guys on the field to help them continue to learn the game and the skills needed.”

Bennett was able to take particular joy when looking at his crop of quarterbacks, with Joe Baker switching from full-back to cover for injured starter Dan Thorne and taking to his new position well.

“Dan Thorne took a knock to the knee last time so we rested him and put Joe Baker in at quarterback and he did really well,” Bennett said.

“He’s played full-back and wide receiver before but started at QB and was great, so we’ve really increased our depth chart there. Dan is still our starter but now I have a lot of confidence in Joe if he’s not available.

“Sam Mendoza also had a go at quarterback and threw a touchdown, and an interception, but he did well too.”

Storm are next in action this weekend when they travel to Gloucester Centurions.