SWINDON made the perfect start to their South West 1 East season as they demolished High Wycombe 62-6 at Greenbridge Road.

The home side ran in eight tries during the convincing victory, with six coming in the second half as Swindon’s superior fitness paid dividends.

Connal Knott was the pick of the home side’s performers as his passing, tackling and game management caused Wycombe problems all afternoon, while fly-half Adam Westall was once again perfect with the boot.

Coach Neil Loader was pleased with the way his side performed on the opening day, but knows there is still plenty to work on.

“It was great to start with a win, and we scored some good tries,” he said.

“They came here with a few players missing, and we tried to keep that away from our players because we didn’t want them to be thinking about it.

“We have not had the greatest pre-season because we have only been able to fit in one game, and that showed a bit because we looked like a team who were still trying to find their feet.

“We allowed them to turn the ball over too much and that cost us, but in the second half we had the psychological advantage of going down the slope with a slight wind, and they were not able to cope with us.

“It was a good win for sure, but there is still plenty to work on.”

The home side made the perfect start as new signing Adam Rumble found space outside Westall to dot down under the posts to add to an earlier penalty, and the remainder of the half was a competitive affair with both sides trying to run the ball but struggling to offload.

The visitors had a few chances during a difficult half, but missed a couple of kickable chances while never really troubling the Swindon defence.

After intelligent work at the lineout Swindon soon created their second try, as they turned the ball over for Troy Badenski to chase a kick in from 40 metres to score.

Westall converted before adding a penalty as Swindon went 20-6 up at the break.

When the teams came out after the break Swindon’s fitness quickly showed as they were able to increase the tempo of the game, as sharp feet from Tim Berry created a try for Paul Wakefield as well as an impressive solo effort for himself.

The home side added a further four tries through Westall and a brace from Jordan Shephard, the pick of which came off the last play of the game, as a training ground move saw Vine canter over for the score.