ROYAL Wootton Bassett were made to pay for a shocking start after they were beaten 25-20 at Bicester in their final game of the season.

Alan Low was forced to take a youthful side to Oxfordshire and Bassett were slow out of the blocks and found themselves 17-0 in arrears inside the opening quarter-of-an-hour.

The visitors soon rallied and hauled themselves back into the contest, as tries from Hamish Forbes-Keith and Joe Pettit levelled things up.

Bassett's fightback was in vain, however, as Bicester got over the whitewash again at the death to snatch the win.

The defeat means Bassett finish third in Southern Counties North, an outcome that pleases Low.

“If we take the first 15 minutes out, we did superbly well," said Low.

“We had a lot of people missing and went with a really young team.

“They played brilliantly and were the better side for 65 minutes, it’s just if you go away from home and concede that many points early on, it’s an uphill battle.

“I think they only had two inroads into our 22 in the second half but unfortunately they scored from one right at the end.

“It’s a disappointing way to finish and the last few weeks have been frustrating but overall, we’ve had a good year.

“Two years ago the club had to win their last game to stay in the league. Now we’re going into our final game not too far away from a potential promotion play-off. We're in a fantastic place at the moment.”

Elsewhere, Supermarine brought the curtain down on a miserable Southern Counties South season with a 112-5 loss at North Dorset, their 22nd defeat from 22 game.

  • SUPERMARINE Ladies secured their eighth win in 10 matches to retain their Championship South West 2 status.

Marine were dominant from the start against Rosslyn Park, keeping play well in their half and the first try arrived on 15 minutes from front row and club president Theresa Bickell. Natalie Williams added the extras.

A break from Bel Martin-Mulholland led to Marine’s second try of the match and Supermarine ended the first half 12 points up.

In the second half, Rosslyn Park came back fighting, giving Marine some tough opposition. 

A lucky break from the visitors led to a try under the posts.

Marine hit back with the perfect response, winning a penalty less than five minutes later, kicked by Bel

Martin-Mulholland, to secure a 15-5 success for the South Marston side.