SWANAGE and Wareham captain Robert Elford labelled their 24-24 draw at Bletchley a "missed opportunity".

The Bestwall boys had roared into a 12-5 lead through tries from Charlie Parish and James Warren, and a Phil Graves conversion.

But they slumped to trail 21-12 at half-time and, despite Darren Wilcox scoring his first try for the club, were still 24-17 adrift with two minutes to go.

Then Joe Grove broke clear to touch down near the posts with Graves adding the last-gasp extras to level and salvage a point.

With South West Division Two East leaders Chippenham crushing Henley Wanderers 45-6, it meant second-placed Swans slipped three points behind the pacesetters.

Elford said: "It was a missed opportunity. That basically sums it up.

"We were a bit slow starting. I said we had to hit them with a bang after we had lost at Marlow and we were still on the coach in the first half."

Swanage and Wareham: Wilcox, S Andrews, Grove, P Graves, Parish, Harris, Beaves, O Andrews, R Elford, Sheldrake (Jones 67), Burgess, Penney, Harwood (Steeden 61), Warren, M Elford. Unused sub: D Elford.