SWINDON Storm head coach Rich Van Sloten praised the hard work and team spirit of his side as they booked their place in the play-offs.

In their final game of the regular season, Storm were up against Jurassic Coast Raptors who were no match for the hosts as they claimed a 55-0 win.

Greg Roscow was on hand to get things moving when he registered the opening touchdown, while Cam Baden, Ian Eastham, Sam Hill, Sean Harper and Andy Corbett were among the scorers for the Storm, who registered their second shut out of the campaign.

With just two defeats blemishing their record throughout the season, the Storm chief admits he is delighted by the turnaround shown by the club, who failed to win a game last season.

“It’s not just been a good weekend it has been a good season for us really and this weekend topped it off really,” he said.

“It was a lot of vindication for the senior players and coaches because it showed that they are better than the results we were given.

“When I took the role as head coach, I wanted to build a team which was competitive again and get the team morale back.

“At the beginning of the season we wanted to just be competitive, which we seemed to have lost last year, so play-offs wasn’t something we had aimed for.

“I just wanted to start building and the guys raised the bar and took every challenge head on with fantastic team spirit.

“If you haven’t got a good team spirit then you aren’t going to get very far because this is the ultimate team game.”

This season has also been the first full season in charge for Van Sloten, but he refuses to believe his arrival has been the catalyst for Storm’s success this year.

“I don’t have to do a lot, the positional coaches, players and the co-ordinators are the ones who put in the hard work,” he added “I just sat back. The one thing I have said is it’s been a complete team effort, everyone has chipped in and wanted to put a marker down.

“The chairman Steve Bennett was saying it was all part of a five-year plan and it seems to be playing out the way he envisaged it.

“From my perspective, it is nice to come in as an experienced coach and have a winning season, but I can’t say that is all down to me.

“I’ve got a great coaching staff and a great set of players who took the challenge onboard and this is the outcome of it.”

After securing their play-off berth, Storm have been drawn up against Bristol Apache, who have beaten Van Sloten’s men twice.