Bicester were left bemused after the referee blew up for full-time seven minutes early in their 10-9 defeat at Swindon College.

The visitors' backs looked quite capable of scoring a winning try when the final whistle sounded, but they cannot appeal against the final result.

Bicester captain Steve Risbridger said: "We kicked off quite late because the referee only arrived four minutes before the start.

"We then only had 33 minutes in the second half.

"We complained to the ref, but there was nothing we could do.

"Our manager spoke to the Swindon fixtures secretary and even he was a bit surprised.

"They hadn't had this ref before either. We didn't know if this was his first game at this level.

Oxford's 17-6 win at Drifters means three teams are locked on 16 points.

Risbridger added: "Second place is now a lot tighter. Chippy seem to be running away with the league."

Swindon took the lead after 15 minutes when prop Nigel Clarke was driven over following a lineout.

Bicester's Anthony Lewis almost put Nick Kenny over on the right before Risbridger replied with a penalty.

No 8 Martin Linstrom went close after sprinting through the middle, while wing Leigh Rushworth almost latched onto Risbridger's chip kick.

Two more Risbridger penalties, the second a mountainous strike from the right, put Bicester 9-5 up, but wing Darren Johnston stretched over for what proved to be Swindon's winning try.