SWINDON captain Mike Thompson believes his side could have won at Windsor had they made a better start in their trip to Home Park.

Sean Lynn’s troops were on the wrong end of a narrow 34-31 scoreline in Berkshire, with their tries coming from Thompson, John Mason and a brace from new signing Charlie Cox, who has joined from Berks/Bucks and Oxon Premier outfit Tadley.

Despite the defeat, the Greenbridge Road skipper remains upbeat about his team's performance but admits a slow start may have cost them the win.

“In all fairness, Windsor has always been a hard place to go. I think I have only ever won there once in six years, so it’s always been tough there,” said Thompson.

“They started the game pretty well and we didn’t really get going, so they had a good lead to begin with and we were chasing the game from there, which is always a hard job.

“It was a win that slipped through our fingers. We had a few players who were unavailable this week, especially up in the front row.

“We can take some positives from it. We scored 21 points in the last 20 minutes, which goes to show what we can do when we are switched on. At the moment, we are just starting a bit too slowly.”

Thompson also thinks there are plenty of positives to take from the game, including new boy Cox's impact.

“We had a new signing and he was outstanding,” added the skipper. “He is on board now for the rest of the year.

“Cox has done really well, to be fair to him. He is a centre and he was playing for Tadley but he lives in Swindon area, so I think it was hard for him to travel back and forth.

“He’s come over to us. A few of the other players and myself know him, and he’s fitted in really well.”

Meanwhile, Royal Wootton Bassett fell to their second away defeat of the season as they were beaten 38-28 by Banbury.

Kyle Lovell, Connor Tomley, Ed Lucas and Chris Patterson all crossed the line for the visitors as Tomley and David Hogg topped up the score.

Despite that defeat, Alan Low’s side did manage to claim a bonus point after scoring four tries, which leaves them fourth in the league standings, with Lynn's Swindon six places adrift of their neighbours down in 10th position.