SWINDON’S quest for success away at Witney will go on for another year after they went down 22-15 in Oxfordshire.

Neil Loader’s side have not won at Hailey Road for more than four years, and despite tries from Jordan Sheppard and Cory Lotter, the coach admitted they didn’t deserve to end their winless streak.

“I think the best team won on the day, mainly because they came out of the blocks quicker than us,” he said.

“They went 10-0 up early on, and we did come back into the game in the second half, but it was not enough. It just all came too late.

“There were some positives and we certainly did try to come back into it and play, but when we threw the ball around it just didn’t seem to happen for us.

“We have not won at Witney for a while, and they are a good side who do all of the basics right and do not give you much time on defence.”

Things started badly for Swindon in the South West 1 East clash, as Tim Muller crossed over for a deserved try after four minutes with Henry Lamb adding the conversion.

Lamb made no mistake with a penalty soon after, but missed another seconds later as the home side went in at the break 10-0 up.

The contest looked all-but over soon after the start of the second half, as an ambitious Swindon pass went to ground, which, had it been collected, could have resulted in a try, but instead the visitors picked up and ran it in for a score.

Adam Westall kicked a penalty as Swindon got the scoreboard moving, and Sheppard went over for his side’s opening try as the fightback continued to gather momentum.

Swindon were showing much more intensity than their opposition, and were again rewarded as Lotter crossed after a host of missed tackles.

But that was as good as it got, as Thom Murton went over for the home side to secure victory.

Swindon 2nds made it a slightly better weekend for the club, as they recorded a 19-10 victory at home to Minety in Dorset & Wilts 1 North.

A drop goal from skipper Jack Ward after 10 minutes gave Minety an early lead, but when the visitors attempted a clearance kick, Swindon ran it back it at them, scoring a try in the corner to make it 5-3 at half-time.

Minety took a 10-5 lead after the break, but two more converted tries made sure of the win for Swindon.

Chippenham lost 41-10 at Redingensions in National League 3 South West, while Wootton Bassett went down 55-7 at Milton Keynes in Southern Counties North..