ROYAL Wootton Bassett coach Alan Low has asked his side to ignore Newbury Blues’ unstoppable form and instead focus on the controllables, following Saturday’s 33-22 win over Wiltshire rivals Chippenham.

Bassett’s latest win was their ninth from 10 games, however unbeaten Newbury are yet to drop a league point having won all of their fixtures and scooped all available bonus points.

It means Lowe’s troops are seven points shy of the former National Three outfit in the race to secure promotion.

However, the above is not at the forefront of the Lowe’s mind – who is instead focused on improving the talent of home-grown players at the club.

He said: “I’m really pleased with the result, our young squad really stepped up at the weekend.

“We were pleased to get over the line and secure the bonus point too, which really helps.

“We always worry about what we’re doing, we don’t look outside the box.

“Newbury came down last year with a fantastic performance in the league – they earned as many wins as teams placed higher in the league than them.

“They’re the ones to try and keep up with.”

After surviving an early scare when Chippenham registered a try in the opening minutes following an interception in midfield, Bassett quickly recovered to open up a 10-point lead following a pair of quick tries and a penalty kick.

Chippenham added to their try tally – closing the hosts’ lead to three points - before Chris Patterson scored the first of two tries for himself before the break to establish an eight-point lead.

Though Chippenham hit back with a penalty, Bassett put the game beyond the visitors’ reach when Alex Plows crossed the whitewash before a further penalty minutes before the final whistle wrapped up Bassett’s 11-point win.

“It was a really good local derby, there were a couple of red cards that we will have to deal with,” said Low.

“Chippenham threw the ball around well and had a big set of backs that really threatened.

“It was a good local derby that was good to watch.”

Elsewhere in South West One (East), Mike Thompson’s Swindon travel to Banbury in search of their first win of the season.

A tie and nine defeats have made for a miserable start to Swindon’s league campaign, and the task fails to get easier this weekend with Banbury winning six of their opening 10 fixtures – placing them fifth in the league.

Other Wiltshire hopes Trowbridge are in action at Wimborne.

A win could see Dan Jeffries’ men leap to ninth in the division above Beaconsfield.

Chippenham are also in action, they host seventh placed Salisbury in another all-Wiltshire affair.

A win for Chippenham could see them move up to ninth, dependant on other results in the division on Saturday.