SWINDON Storm played their final pre-season game at Swindon Supermarine yesterday against Bury Saints, winning 19-8 in a solid fashion.

After an impressive first season in the National Leagues, the Storm were keen to use the friendly as a way of implementing the large amount of rookies they have gained in the off-season whilst also allowing the more experienced players an opportunity to get back in the swing of things.

A strong defensive performance often gave the Storm offence good field position allowing quarterback Dan Thorne to take advantage. The first touchdown saw Thorne run it in from the three-yard line whilst the second saw him hit wide receiver Aylwin Thorne-Griffith, who showed great composure to beat three men and run it in to give Storm a 13-0 lead.

Thorne-Griffith, who was playing on both offence and defence, then capped off a great game by intercepting the Saints quarterback at the end of the first half and running it back 80 yards to give Storm a comfortable 19-0 lead at half time.

The second half was marred by a number of penalties which hindered the progress of the offence, whilst the defence remained strong. However, with 20 seconds left Bury blocked a Storm field goal attempt and ran it back 70 yards for the consolation touchdown.

Despite the win, coach Steve Bennett made it very clear that he expects more from the team following their lacklustre second-half performance.

The team now have two weeks to prepare for their opening league game of the season against a strong Farnham Knights team.