SWINDON defied yet another sluggish start to snatch a 23-22 victory at home to Witney on Saturday with a last-gasp penalty from Adam Westall.

The Greenbridge Road side have made a habit of offering their opposition a head start in recent weeks, but have also been able to haul their way back into a number of games in the second half.

They fell just short last weekend at Windsor, but it was a different story this week as they pulled themselves back from 22-10 down at the break to clinch victory with 30 seconds left on the clock.

Tim Berry, Jordan Sheppard and Paul Daniels all pulled tries out of the hat to begin the comeback, before Westall regained his composure to kick the winning points having missed a similar kick five minutes earlier.

The fly-half was relieved to have made amends for his previous miss, and believes their superior fitness was the key to their comeback.

“We have had a real problem starting our fixtures for the last four or five weeks, and even last year we were never really that quick out of the blocks, so it is something we need to work on,” he said.

“But we are fitter this year than we have been most seasons, and we have been able to bring the deficits back.

“We fell just short against Windsor, but this week we pulled it back to 22-20, and we were able to win it with the last kick of the game so there is some justice.

“I had a shot about five minutes earlier that I totally fluffed and I was getting some stick from the players, but I was lucky to get another chance from an identical spot and I was able to knock it over.

“After that there was about 30 seconds left, and we collected the kick-off and booted it into touch to end the game.”

But despite their success, Westall believes the squad need to keep searching for a solution to their slow starts if they are going to push up the league table.

“We can’t keep giving these sides 20-point starts, and I think our crowd have been getting nervous because our games have been nail-biting.

“Any side 20 points down at half-time would think they were down and out, but we just seem to have a habit of turning it on in the second half.

“The players and coaches need to work out why it is because there is no reason we should turn it on in the second half and not the first, and we need a solution.

“I don’t know if we are nervous or what it is, but it is as if we realise we are better if we stick to our game-plan and get on with it.

“When it gets wetter we won’t be able to throw the ball around and play our expansive stuff, and we won’t have the chances to pull ourselves back, so we need to sort it out quickly.”