FOLLOWING a bruising encounter last weekend, Swindon Storm will need to dust themselves down in double-quick time as a clash with their division’s unbeaten leaders looms.

On Sunday, the Storm hosted the Bristol Apache at Supermarine RFC but slipped to a 28-7 defeat and, with first-choice quarterback Greg Roscow already ruled out with a knee problem, injury was added to insult as the game was brought to an early end when Carl Marshall, who had only been switched to the offensive leader’s role mid-match, broke his arm in a fall with just minutes left on the clock.

On June 12, Colin Branagh’s side, whose record in the BAFA National League SFC Two West stands at 2-3, play host to 4-0 leaders Oxford Saints and the Storm head coach has a few headaches to contend with as he decides who to deploy in the quarterback role.

“Without our regular quarterback, we played with Dan Thorpe as our QB – he’s usually a defensive end but he can play there too,” said Branagh.

“Dan did quite well but in the final quarter, I decided to replace him with Carl Marshall, who had been playing at tight end.

“There was only about a minute to go and during a screen play, he fell fully backwards with his left arm outstretched and suffered a compound fracture, which brought the game to an early close.

“We do have a few players coming back for the Oxford game – Andy Wilson, our player-coach, Reece Kennett and possibly Aaron Benn will be back – but I’m going to be scratching around for a quarterback.

“Our third-string QB, who plays for the JV (junior varsity) side, usually works on a Sunday, so we need to see if he’s available.”

After two successfully-converted Bristol touchdowns, defenceman Calum Elver claimed an interception and drove into the end zone to hit back, with Luke McEnroe kicking the extra point to make it 14-7 at half-time.

But that was as good as things got for the Storm, although Branagh wasn’t too disheartened by his injury-hit side’s display.

He added: “Defensively, I was quite pleased.

“We were against a side that are quite highly-rated in our division and that people would have tipped to beat us easily.

“Calum Elver got two interceptions and was our MVP but it’s just the offensive side of our game that’s been missing and that I need to try and improve.

“We’re halfway through our season and I’d say that so far, there have been some encouraging signs but we could do better.”