ROYAL Wootton Bassett head coach Alan Low says the manner in which his side lost to Old Patesians was gut wrenching.

Having kept the new league leaders, who were second heading into Saturday’s game, within one point, a converted try in the 78th minute saw Bassett end the game at Ballards Ash with nothing to show for their efforts.

Low’s side are the only team in South West One East to have inflicted defeat on Old Pats, who were demoted from National League Three South last term.

As a result, Bassett were ready for a team with revenge on their minds.

However, the hosts were able to remain within striking distance for most of the encounter, until a breakaway try secured the 18-10 success for the visitors.

“It was gutting to lose that way,” said Low, whose side are now six games without a win. “We definitely deserved to come away with something.

“The performance was much improved. There are still areas for us to work on but on the whole, we were a lot happier with the performance on Saturday.

“To concede that score right at the end, against the flow of play, was very difficult because it was an error that was pounced upon by their winger.

“He flew out with the ball and they played a few phases after that and managed to score.

“We had them out wide and if they had scored out wide, it would have been a much harder conversion but we let the guy step inside about 15 or 20 metres and score just to the outside of the post.

“It was a bitter pill to swallow but on the pride front, we played a lot better.”

New recruit Dominic Carroll was thrown in for his first start for the club at outside centre and Low was impressed with the early impact made as Bassett continue to cope with a large injury list.

“Dom got himself in and he worked his way in slowly,” added Low. “To come straight into the game, he was dropped in almost straight away because of the injury situation, he did a good job for us.”