WOOTTON Bassett finally secured their return to Davis Wood Hockey League Central Division 2 with a 17-0 hammering of bottom side Marlborough B.

The table-toppers have dominated the division from the outset, winning all of their games to put themselves on the brink of promotion for a number of weeks, and they finally achieved their goal at the weekend as Kyle Barnes added another seven goals to his impressive total.

The extra incentive of promotion spurred on the hosts in the opening stages and they took an early lead when Jack Twine slid in at the far post to convert Barnes’ cross. Twine then returned the favour and played in Barnes to double the lead.

The two strikers then added a further three goals between them to put Bassett 5-0 up after only 15 minutes of play before captain Kristian Mansfield then got in on the act with a fabulous solo effort. Not to be outdone, Matt Daniell and Mark Turner added a goal each before half time to leave the hosts eight to the good.

The second half continued in a similar fashion, with Turner adding two quick goals to complete his hat-trick. Twine then added his third of the day before Daniell also completed a hat-trick. Barnes chipped in with another four goals in the half to take his tally to seven for the day and complete the 17-0 win.

This weekend Bassett face an away trip to second placed Swindon A where a win would secure Bassett the league title.

Elsewhere, Wootton Bassett Men B beat West Wilts D 4-1 with a brace for both Nick Thomson and Miliand Thapa. Dave Gardner won man of the match for a solid defensive display.

The club’s ladies took on Cheltenham Civil Service in their final stretch of West Women’s league matches and came away with a 1-1 draw.

Bassett started slowly, with their goalkeeper needing to pull off a diving save withing the opening minute. The hosts settled though, and applied good pressure to win a large number of short corners throughout the first half.

Bassett couldn’t find a way through, with Cheltenham crowding the semi-circle looking to work on the break, and eventually won a corner of their own which they lifted over the keeper into the goal.

Bassett seemed spurred on by conceding and won a number of further corners which they could not convert.

Eventually a bobbling ball in open play, which was touched by several players from both sides, was decisively dispatched into the back of the net by Emma Collison.

The second half saw Bassett dominate play, particularly in the middle of the pitch, with player-of-the-match Emma Langdon leading the team with her determined style of play.

Despite a number of chances Cheltenham continued to hold strong in defence and Bassett looked disappointed to end the game 1-1 and share the points.

Meanwhile, Swindon put in a superb team performance to earn a 3-3 draw against Gloucester City to help their bid for survival.

The opening minutes of the game saw the Swindon forward line miss a series of golden chances to take the lead.

They did eventually go 1-0 up, they were soon punished for their early misses as they twice fell behind.

Despite their disappointment the hosts stayed in the game and they were finally rewarded with seven minutes remaining as Henry Cheney smashed home a Jordan McKenzie cross to level the contest.

Both sides pushed for a winner but were unable to take advantage of the chances which came their way.

This weeked Swindon travel to Exeter University looking for more vital points as they continue to battle against the drop.