Swindon Storm under-19s have been crowned BAFA National Division Two champions after triumphing in the play-offs in Oxford.

Having finished in the top three in the regular season, Swindon headed to Oxford to face the South Wales Warriors and Oxford Saints in the round-robin finals to see which team would win the national title at the level.

In their first game against the Warriors, Swindon put in a statement performance to complete a dominant 43-6 victory to set themselves up to have a decider against the home side.

In that second game, Oxford started quickly and took a 7-0 lead but the Storm came back and ended up taking care of business with a 32-15 victory to take the crown.

Head Coach Andy Duff said: “There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes to get the team to this level. Not only have the players worked hard over the last four years to be able to compete for a national championship, but the coaching staff and support network which holds everything together has also done a fantastic job. 

“Looking forward, the future of the team looks very bright and is in good hands to go on to become even better.”

Having entered the season expecting to have something of a rebuilding year after a big squad turnover, the Storm have exceeded all expectations to claim the title.

Both the under-16s and the under-19s made the playoffs and Steve Bennett, who founded the club, told the Adver even before the finals weekend how excited he had been by the year on the pitch.

He said: “For the under-19s it was an experiment this year, this team has grown out of the under-16 players who have graduated, so out of necessity we created this team.

“We are very lucky to have a safety and a quarterback who are both in the under-16s Great Britain international programme, which brings that extra level of intensity to the team and also what we call football IQ.

“I am very proud of them, they have come together really well and moved onto the next level, I have been out of coaching for a few years with family and work commitments but I have got a bit more spare time now and could come back at just the right time to help these guys.

“I am really proud of these guys, they have done so well against some really tough teams.”