RUGBY: Swindon see out fine year in style (From Swindon Advertiser)

RUGBY: Swindon see out fine year in style

8:00am Wednesday 21st December 2011 in Rugby By Andy Warren

SWINDON capped a magnificent 2011 with a 59-10 victory over Bletchley in their final game of the year.

Neil Loader’s men ran in nine tries to secure the win which sees them finish the year third in the South West One East table, having only won promotion at the end of last season.

Swindon have impressed with an exciting brand of rugby since winning promotion, and Loader will look back on 2011 fondly.

“It has been a great year for us and it is one I will always look back on. It is up there with the best times I have had in rugby,” he told the Advertiser.

“We are made up with everything we have managed to achieve, and are happy with how things are going now. Getting promoted was great and we are pleased with how we have started in our new league, and we want to keep that going.

“It is a great way for us to go into Christmas where we can relax a little, then come back in the new year ready to go again.

“I have really enjoyed being back at Swindon, because it is my club, and I have really felt like I have seen a lot of the players here grow up and develop. I hope we can carry everything on.”

Tom Mannion scored a brace in the victory, while Adam Westall and Scott Chapman were amongst the scorers as Liam Rowe collected a Westall cross-field kick for what was the game’s outstanding try.

Loader was pleased with the performance, which saw his side recover from a difficult start.

He said: “In the first 20 minutes or so we played into a slight wind and also played up the slope, so it started off a little bit tough.

“But as the game wore on we quickly started to see that we were going to cause them problems throughout the afternoon.

“They played well in parts but started to fall off a few tackles, which made it a little easier for us. We played well through the middle but also did well to get the ball out wide.

“Tom Mannion and Dave Cox made some great runs which really helped us at times, and we scored some good tries which was pleasing.”