SWINDON’S 17-10 South West One East win over Royal Wootton Bassett came as no surprise to skipper Mike Thompson.

With Bassett boasting the superior league position and a win over their local rivals earlier in the year, many expected them to complete a league double at home this weekend.

However, that wasn’t to be the case as Jordan Sheppard chipped in with two tries, including a sublime late score, while Wayne Lower also added his name to the scoresheet.

Fin Dewar was the only man to cross the line for Bassett, Tom Fieldsend chipped in with six points with his boot.

“I’d say it was a surprise win but I was actually very confident going into it,” said the Swindon captain.

“We had a lot of lads back who were missing and they have come back now, they were the type of players we needed to have back last year.

“They were turning up to training and it all seemed that it was coming together for us.

“Having players back is a massive boost to us. Bassett away is always an occasion, normally it is anyone’s game and luckily we came away with the win.”

After a few weeks of indifferent performances, Thompson admits it was refreshing to see his side stick to a game plan, something he attributes to the influx of players.

“The performance was brilliant, the big difference was we had a game plan and we stuck to it, everyone stuck to it all the way through the game,” he added.

“We knew we were going to have a few missing. We had a few different people up front on the front row but we decided when we got the ball to kick it back to them and let them play it out.

“It was a horrible day, we decided to let them come at us and we’d just defend hard, then when we got our opportunities we had to take them.

“So, we all stuck to it, I couldn’t fault any of the players from one all the way through to 18, I was so pleased with them.

“I think fair reason for it is it’s the first time we have been able to work with a group of players in the week, without getting to the game on Saturday where eight of them are nowhere to be seen.

“It’s just the consistency and I feel like it is coming now.”

This weekend in South West One East, Swindon look to make it back-to-back wins with a home victory over Salisbury, while Bassett travel to Stratford Upon Avon in search for redemption.

In Southern Counties South last weekend, Swindon College Old Boys were unable to match local rivals Trowbridge by 50-7.