SWINDON Ladies remained top of the West Clubs Women’s Hockey League Premier Division 2A thanks to a narrow 2-1 victory over struggling Newent.

Linda Brouwers and Lynsey Wall netted the vital goals in a controlled performance from the league leaders.

The home team started brightly, but Newent’s goalkeeper denied them with some fantastic saves.

They were not to be denied for long though as Brouwers opened the scoring in the first half with a well-struck shot.

Swindon made it two after Rebecca Lightbody was fouled in the final third – advantage was played by referee Jim Patrick and Scrase picked up the ball before whipping it across to Wall for a first-time strike into the net.

Newent came back into the game in the second half, pulling Swindon around and forcing Ladies to step up their game.

The visitors halved the deficit courtesy of a breakaway goal after a loose pass allowed a surge of Newent players to descend on the Swindon D and muscle the ball over the line.

Swindon tightened their defence after this and again took control to finish the match in the ascendancy.

Meanwhile, Swindon Ladies 2nd were heavily beaten by local rivals Royal Wootton Bassett away from home 6-0 at the weekend.

Bassett were 5-0 up at half-time, but Swindon fought back to produce a more determined second-half performance.

Bassett struck once more in the second half to cap off a superb performance.

Elsewhere, Swindon Men came out on the right side of a 6-0 scoreline, scooping the points against West Wilts to continue their own strong run of form.

Tom Goldsmith, Luke Cejer and Rob Riddle scored for Swindon in the first half before three second-half goals completed a convincing win.

Swindon Men 2nd went down 8-0 at home to Clifton Robinson’s while Swindon Men 3rd lost 3-1 away at Royal Wootton Bassett.

Doug MacLeod scored Swindon’s only goal before Bassett turned the tide to lead 2-1 at the break.

The hosts extended their lead midway through the second half before a green card was shown to each side late on.

Swindon U10s and U12s both produced a fantastic performance at their respective tournaments last weekend.

Swindon U10s showed good tactical awareness to stay spread out all over the pitch and score some well-worked team goals in their matches.

The younger ones then proved they could defend just as well in their other games, and by the final game, Swindon were passing the ball quickly, playing as a team and scoring goals from the top of the D.

Swindon U12s made an excellent start in their tournament, winning 4-0 against Royal Wootton Bassett before losing 1-0 to Marlborough and drawing their final two games 0-0 against Chippenham and Corsham.