IMPROVEMENT in Royal Wootton Bassett’s levels of game management pleased head coach Alan Low during Saturday’s South West One East win over Sherborne.

Bassett comfortably beat their Dorset rivals 44-5 to move four points clear at the top of the table with six games played.

Low was partly frustrated by his side’s levels of inaccuracy during the first half of their most recent fixture.

But, in tricky ball-handling conditions, the hosts recovered to register a sixth successive bonus-point win.

Low said: “We were slightly frustrated with our performance in the first half, it took us a little while to get going. We were inaccurate and we spoke about our breakdown at half-time.

“Sherborne were very forward-orientated. But we addressed the issues in the second half and our game management levels improved.

“Everything was played at the tempo we wanted to play at, which helped.

“We’re top but that’s not something we read into.

“We want to focus on ourselves and, performance-wise, we have things to work on.

“As a squad, we’ll re-group and look at the games ahead before getting stuck in.”

Despite Bassett’s 39-point win, Low insists Sherborne shouldn’t read into Saturday’s score too much – adding that points were left on the field by both teams after the sounding of the full-time whistle.

That’s not an immediate concern for Low, but the Bassett coach will certainly want to rid of any sloppy and needless errors.

Low added: “Sherborne pushed hard, they offloaded the ball well and showed some real threats.

“They will say it themselves, but they missed a few opportunities because of misplaced passes. The ball was greasy and it was windy, so conditions weren’t great.

“We missed opportunities too, points were certainly left out on the field. But Sherborne will do well this year.

“They’ve always been strong in Southern Counties, and I think they have the capability to finish mid-table, which is good for their first year back at this level.”

Elsewhere, Chippenham were within a point of claiming their first away win of the season but fell to a 27-26 defeat at Beaconsfield.

Marlborough also produced a spirited performance on the road, although that was ultimately in vain as they lost 54-42 at Buckingham.

Trowbridge were unable to add to their solitary win this season after going down 41-14 at home to Oxford Harlequins.

No action took place in either Southern Counties South or Dorset & Wilts One North last weekend, with all teams taking a break from league fixtures.