BATTLING Swanage & Wareham put up a brave fight against leaders Wells before succumbing to a 29-22 home defeat at Bestwall.

Injury-plagued Swans fielded several players making their first-team debuts.

The Southern Counties South fixture also marked the first time the two clubs have met.

Swans got off to a bad start when Joe Desmond was yellow-carded for a trip mid-way through the first half.

It proved costly for Swans as Wells ran in three tries while Desmond was in the sin bin.

Wells centre Alex Knight began the scoring spree, breaking through to score a try under the posts which was converted by winger John Branch.

Three minutes later, Wells passed the ball along the three-quarter line for Knight to score his second.

Finally, wing forward Ashley Hill secured a try close to the posts just moments before Desmond came back on the field. Branch added the extras.

Two minutes into the second half, Swans were awarded a penalty which took them down to Wells’ five-metre line.

The ball was worked out to second row Dan Collins who scored Swans’ first try before Wells responded with a well-taken penalty goal.

But the hosts hit back on 52 minutes when the ball was spread along the Swans’ backs to winger Alex Parry who beat his opposite number to score his debut |try. Charlie Parish added the extras.

A Wells break-out against the run of play resulted in a penalty in Swans’ 22, which was quickly taken by scrum-half John Knight to score under the posts.

Swans rallied with tries from Parry and Desmond but were unable to level the hard-fought contest.