ROYAL Wootton Bassett made it seven wins from eight games in South West One East this season with a battling 22-17 victory at home to Banbury on Saturday.

The Ballards Ash side sit third in the table heading into November, with the only blemish on their record so far this term being the defeat at Salisbury in the third round of fixtures.

Bassett took control of proceedings early on, scoring two converted tries. Tom Fieldsend intercepted a loose pass to claim the first before David Martin followed him over the whitewash, with Fieldsend adding the kick on both occasions.

Banbury brought themselves back into the game with a converted try of their own to make it 14-7 at the break, but the hosts were the first to strike after the restart as Phil Bardwell dotted down.

A second Banbury converted try brought them back within five points but Bassett saw the game out strongly in the closing stages as a penalty apiece was the only addition to the score, with Fieldsend’s kick taking his personal haul to 12 points for the day.

Bassett head coach Low said: “It was a really good result. Banbury have been going well and they’re a side that have always been up in the top half over the last few seasons.

“We were expecting a tough day at the office, so it was really nice to put in a very good performance.

“We are not getting carried away with how we are doing and from our immediate review of the game, we were disappointed not to come away with the bonus point.

“There was a big turning point in the game where we thought we’d scored a try but a touch judge’s flag went up to rule it out.

“That would have been a seven-point try and then from the following phase of play, Banbury went up the other end and scored. It was a 14-point turnaround right on half-time.

“That would have been the bonus point, but if you’d have told me before the game that we’d come away with a win but disappointed not to get the bonus point out of it, I would be lying if I said I wouldn’t have snapped your hand off.”

Elsewhere, Swindon’s hopes of picking up a first win of the season in South West One East came up agonisingly short as they were beaten 27-24 at home by Witney, who broke their own duck for the campaign in the process.

The Greenbridge Road side had the consolation of picking up two bonus points in defeat but remain at the foot of the table.

Swindon College Old Boys suffered back-to-back defeats in Southern Counties South for the first time this season when they went down 19-12 at home to third-in-the-table Yeovil.

Finally, Supermarine are also still without a victory this season having lost their latest Dorset & Wilts One North encounter 59-22 at home to Pewsey Vale.