ROYAL Wootton Bassett extended their winning run to an 11th game but it was far from plain sailing at Wallingford.

An early try gave the home side the lead in Oxfordshire and Bassett actually failed to register a point in the first half before going on to win 29-8.

However, the Bassett coaching staff made a number of changes at the break in an effort to get a response from their troops and the plan worked as Liam Rowe touched down, converted by David Hogg, within ten minutes of the restart.

Andrew Phoenix continued the charge with a try of his own, and although a penalty gave Wallingford hope, Bassett were able to see the job through.

Winger Rowe took the plaudits as he claimed two more tries to complete his hat-trick and keep Bassett second in the table, seven points adrift of leaders High Wycombe.

Bassett boss Alan Low said: “We had a few unavailabilities but the side we took was capable of doing the job and could have performed a lot better.

“But I think it shows the strength in depth we have that we are looking for better despite making changes to the team.

“We didn’t really fire on all cylinders. They had a very, very big pack and we were a little bit disjointed at the breakdown.

“Liam knows he has got some areas to work on but he took his tries well when he got into some space. There were a couple of team chances which we built and there was one individual effort at the end which got us the bonus point.

“Getting the bonus point was deserved for the hard work the guys put in right to the end but maybe we shouldn’t have been in that situation and had it a bit sooner.”

Meanwhile, Swindon ended their run of four consecutive defeats in South West 1 East with a 27-26 success over Windsor.

Supermarine clocked up their 18th defeat in Southern Counties South when they lost 48-13 at Bradford-on-Avon.