SWINDON Shock edged closer to their dreams of promotion this weekend with an 86-72 road win over Reading Rockets 2nd.

With just three fixtures remaining of the National League Division Four South West season, Shock are second, level on points with table-topping Cardiff City.

Colclough remains confident on promotion as his side are due to draw their season to a close in the Welsh capital on Saturday, March 11.

Against Reading, Shock jumped into an early lead and were 25-18 up by the end of the first quarter, but in the second session, the visitors could only outscore their hosts by a single point.

During the half-time interval, David Colclough’s side took a break outside as they tried to cool down from a hot gym in Berkshire.

Due to the high temperature, Colclough also found himself buying water for himself and his players before they went back in for the third instalment of the game after running out before the start of the match.

During that stanza, Shock built up a healthy lead, allowing them to kill the clock in the final period as they claimed their 10th win of the season.

Spencer Wells and Chris Cole continued their impressive form as they registered 24 and 17 points respectively. But the Shock player-coach was delighted with how his side overcame the conditions to compound their play-off credentials “It blew our minds. We wanted to get the party started early but when we walked into the gym and it was so hot, we thought it was going to be a problem,” said Colclough “They were younger and faster. We knew two of their players were really good but we had a size advantage.

“Because they were so fast, it kind of gave us a mismatch, which caused a problem for us, but we jumped put on them early.”

Shock now have a weekend off before they have a back-to-back games in early March against Bristol Storm and Southampton Sharks.

“I would have loved to play this weekend. I hate back-to-back games at this level just because it takes so much out of you,” added Colclough.

“But if we can get a couple of good training sessions and win the two games before we head to Cardiff, that would be awesome.”