SWANAGE & Wareham are staring down the barrel of South West One East relegation after letting slip a 10-point lead against Witney.

Struggling Swans look virtually doomed following their 19-10 defeat at the hands of the Oxfordshire outfit at Bestwall on Saturday.

Three teams are expected to face the drop and Swans are 21 points from safety with a maximum of 25 points to play for from their remaining games.

They missed an ideal opportunity to close in on their rivals by failing to capitalise on a promising position against Witney in their most recent clash.

A converted Charlie Parish try put Swans in charge as they held a 7-0 lead at the interval.

And some crucial points looked set to be banked once Rory Triniman had extended the advantage with a penalty.

But injuries to two key players upset Swans’ rhythm and Witney took their chance to secure |the win with three second-half tries.

Swans: Dunsford, Rowberry (Desmond, 40), Triniman, Wilcox, Landrum, Parish, Smyth, Audley, Elford, Andrews (Penney, 48), Burgess, Collins (Wyburgh, 50), Corsie, Scott, Wright.

  • Ellingham & Ringwood chief Steve Anderson praised his players but admitted Weybridge Vandals had proved too strong in a 51-32 defeat.

Dominic Pitt (2), Charlie Levey, Rob Saltrick and Andy Turner all touched down for Ellingham, while Charlie Cockram kicked a penalty and a conversion and Ali Bennett added a further conversion.

But the visitors claimed victory in the London Three South West clash despite a brave effort from Anderson’s men.

Anderson, the club’s director of rugby, said: “This was a fantastic game and the best that we had played for a while.

“But we were up against the best team we had played this sea son and Weybridge deserved to win.

“I was very proud of our young squad for throwing everything we had at them and we did well to win an important bonus point.”

  • In Southern Counties South, lowly Oakmeadians were thumped 64-5 at Frome.

The Meyrick Park outfit are second from bottom with just three victories from 17 league matches.