Swindon College Old Boys downed by Reading Abbey but not out says Martin Lloyd

The two sides were promoted to Southern Counties North last season, but have endured contrasting seasons as they book-end the league table.

Visiting Reading secured a 25-0 win as they took advantage of difficult conditions under foot to leave College nine points adrift at the foot of the table.

“It was always going to be a tough game with it being top versus bottom and we just looked at it as we have got to go for it,” he said.

“You can see the contrast in fortunes between the two clubs and they are a big club and have had a lot of people back this season.

“We performed really well despite the scoreline.

“It was a really tough game in very poor conditions. Our pitch has been very good but it very quickly turned into a bog and a bit of a slugging match.

“They had two players who stood out for them which was the difference between the two sides.

“They scored two tries which we would dispute at crucial times. One was a clear knock-on, but to be fair the conditions were bad to referee in, let alone play.

“The other was a line-out where they took the ball and drove the ball at the back but we didn’t contest so it should have been a penalty.

“We were disappointed and were very close to scoring ourselves but it was a game for defence.”

Despite only picking up two wins all season and closest rivals before the weekend Thatcham winning, Lloyd refuses to give up on this season and will keep fighting until the end of the campaign.

“At the end of the day it looks likely that we will end up towards the bottom of the table supporting the rest of the teams so the way we see it is we have just got to keep going and be a thorn in the side for the teams that we are playing,” he added.

“It’s going on to next season whatever happens, you just have to keep going and hit the ground running next season.

“We are still not giving up on this season and we’re still going to fight until the final whistle goes in the last game.”