MINETY put the disappointment of their Southern Counties Senior Vase semi-final loss behind them as they overcame a spirited Swindon 2nd to stay in the hunt in Dorset & Wilts One North.

The hosts chose to play downhill in the first half on a pitch that barely passed a pre-match inspection but the decision looked a wise one when, after just two minutes, scrum-half Will Mason fed fly-half Tom McAllister, whose kick over the defence was chased down by man-of-the-match centre Jack Ward.

Ward was instrumental in Minety’s second try in the ninth minute. Ripping the ball from Swindon in midfield, he passed to flanker Stephen Brown, who timed his pass to wing Luke Radcliffe perfectly.

Radcliffe’s turn of speed left the away team’s defence in disarray as he burst through to score near the corner flag.

When Mason chipped over the defensive line and collected the ball to score under the posts in the 17th minute, Minety were well on top.

Swindon re-organised and hit back hard, pushing the home team back.

Minety held out well under increasing pressure from a large Swindon pack but lost their influential outside centre Matt Roberts and flanker Pete Hazell to injury before the half was out.

Ten minutes into the second half, Minety scored their fourth try to secure a valuable bonus point.

Ward broke free in his own half, beating two defenders before drawing the full-back and passing to winger David Cooke, who raced in from 25 metres out to touch down.

Swindon hit back late on in the game with a try from a scrum but a Ward penalty with minutes to go ended the scoring, with the hosts maintaining their winning run in the league.