WOOTTON Bassett survived an early scare to record a 24-point victory away at Walcot.

The game between two clubs in the bottom four was a vital one for both sides, but things started in the worst possible way for Bassett as two players were sent to the sin bin early on by the strict referee.

But the visitors were not to be denied, managing to score two tries despite being down to 13 men, before continuing their dominance into the second half having already secured the bonus-point by the break.

Andy Phoenix scored twice and Billy Johnson, Tucker Blinkhorn and Hamish Keith were all amongst the tries, and skipper Dave Martin was pleased with how his side coped with depleted numbers in the early stages.

“The referee was pulling out cards and then asking questions later, and at one point we were down to 13 men inside the first 15 minutes, which was a real shock as the referee was putting his mark on the game,” he said.

“We were on the receiving end of that but still managed to score two tries, and we were able to overcome having two players missing.

“We managed to keep our structure and we were adamant we would keep the ball, and that is exactly what we were able to.

“They were the better side when the play got a little loose, but we tightened up again and managed to wrap up the bonus point by half-time.”