ROYAL Wootton Bassett made it seven wins from eight games in South West One East this season with a battling 22-17 victory at home to Banbury on Saturday.

The Ballards Ash side sit third in the table heading into November, with the only blemish on their record this term being the defeat at Salisbury in the third round of fixtures.

Bassett took control of proceedings early on, scoring two converted tries. Tom Fieldsend intercepting a loose pass to score the first before David Martin followed him over the whitewash, with Fieldsend adding the kick on both occasions.

Banbury brought themselves back into the game with a converted try of their own to make it 14-7 at the break, but the hosts were the first to strike after the restart as Phil Bardwell dotted down.

A second Banbury converted try brought them back within five points but Bassett saw the game out strongly in the closing stages as a penalty apiece was the only addition to the score, with Fieldsend’s kick taking his personal haul to 12 points for the day.

Elsewhere, Marlborough saw their perfect start ended as they were beaten 32-22 at leaders Newbury Blues in the battle of the unbeaten sides.

The visitors made a fast start to the match and a sustained attack down the right saw Ashley Horner score the first try of the game inside five minutes.

Newbury responded swiftly and hit back with a try of their own before a penalty from Will Grant inched Marlborough back in front.

The Blues then took the lead for the first time with a converted try, but it did not take long for Marlborough to get back in front when Josaia Visei received the ball near halfway and powerfully surged to the line, with Grant converting.

After end-to-end action, Newbury began to get a stranglehold on the game as the half drew to a close and two tries, one converted, gave them a 24-15 lead at the break.

The second half was far less eventful than the first, with the game becoming much more edgy.

Newbury got the first points via a penalty, but Marlborough gave themselves hope with 10 minutes left, pushing down the right to allow Tauyavu Bativagone to score, with Grant’s kick making it 27-22.

However, it was too tall an order to complete the comeback and just before the final whistle, Newbury touched down again to settle the contest once and for all.

Finally, Chippenham suffered their heaviest defeat of the season when they went down 47-3 at Old Centralians.