ROYAL Wootton Bassett suffered a gut-wrenching blow on Saturday as they were denied an opening day win in South West One East.

Having gone the whole season without picking up a single point the last time they were at the same level, back in 2009/10, Bassett were within a kick of putting that right at the first time of asking this time around.

However, with the hosts leading 19-13 and the clock having passed the 80-minute mark, Maidenhead were able to pick and drive the ball from a lineout to cross the whitewash before it was calmly converted to snatch the victory from Bassett.

In torrential rain, Alan Low’s side had built up a sizeable advantage over their visitors by the 35th minute after an unconverted score in the corner was added to when some neat football skills saw Bassett touch down under the posts, the conversion making it 12-0.

Maidenhead pulled themselves back into the tie moments before the break with a converted try of their own, but less than a minute after the restart, Bassett went over the line again and looked to have done enough as they clung on for much of the second period.

However, the newly-promoted side came up just short but will be heartened by the size of the celebration from the opposing dressing room as they trudged in wet and muddy.

“The performance from the lads was superb,” said Low, whose side sit eighth courtesy of their losing bonus point.

“We were stepping up into the league and it was important to get the performance right and show where we can be.

“Maidenhead have said that they are going to be a top-two side at the end of the year and it has taken until the very last kick of the game to lose it.

“I am proud as punch. In the squad of 18, we had eight under 20s as well, that really says where we are as a club as well.

“The conditions were obviously a bit of a leveller. It was nice to get an early score under our belts and that probably settled some nerves.

“There were just a few game management issues that we need to address at this level.

“We can’t give the ball away cheaply, so there are some little bits we need to work on and we know we can step that up from where we were.

“For their first taste of Level Six rugby, they have done the whole club proud.”