Old Priorians guaranteed themselves third place in Regional 2 Thames for the 2025/26 season after battling their way to a bonus point win against Windsor on Saturday afternoon, Will Taylor contributing nineteen points as the Twisters wrapped up victory late on in the tie.

OPs had the majority of the early territory and possession but ceded the ball to Windsor, full back Jonny Jeremiah deftly breaking through the line before perfectly timing an offload to Noah Sleigh on the wing who sauntered in for the first try with a little under five minutes played, converted for a 7-0 lead.

The hosts looked well set from the restart to put the phases together once more, only for Josh Chippendale (making his first start for the 1st XV since April 2024) to intercept on halfway and run in unchallenged to level the scores immediately as Taylor added the extras. OPs then enjoyed a good spell, able to harry and hassle the stubborn Windsor defence into eventual submission, Ethan Wetherell's powerful carry through the centre setting up Taylor for an easy try as he walked it over the line.

Priorians had plenty of chances to further their advantage but were generally unable to make it count in the 'red zone', with passes going forward and penalties being conceded. Indeed, this eventually led to a yellow card being issued to Guy Djedje just beyond the half hour as the visitors were punished for persistent infringement. Despite being forced to play the rest of the half with fourteen players, OPs made the most of a rare penalty of their own, a lineout taken in the 22 heading out into the backs where Taylor was strong enough to go over for his second of the afternoon and give his side a 19-7 lead with the first forty minutes done and dusted.

Windsor came out of the second half traps much the better and their good start was rewarded with a try, working through quick yet controlled phases to force the issue, OPs going back up to fifteen with Djedje returning to the pitch only for another yellow to be shown, this time to Wetherell.

Following the score, the Berkshire side began to dominate proceedings and looked likely to go over once more, but were met by staunch tackling that proved to be impenetrable, coupled with a fair degree of profligacy at the set-piece where the ball was turned over with regularity. The increasingly stop-start nature of the second half - the Priorians penalty count against very much in double figures - ruined the flow of the game and saw the Twisters camped out in their own 22 and on the backfoot for large swathes of time.

Momentum finally swung in the favour of the visitors in the last ten minutes, Windsor's indiscipline finally revealing itself as OPs advanced down the pitch through a series of penalties. Finally able to put themselves in a decent position, Taylor elected to kick for goal and duly delivered three points with no more than a handful of minutes left to give daylight between the two sides and perhaps crush any dreams of a losing bonus point for Windsor.

This was confirmed after the restart with OPRFC eventually gathering the bouncing ball, Stefan Tsang's marauding break up to the opposition ten metre line resulting in some terrific interplay with Kimen Nyam, who decisively cut inside to take the Twisters up to the 22. Wetherell made another strong burst to take OPs to within sight of the line, where quick recycling laid the foundation for Mishka Fibbens to pick and go from short range, the bonus point achieved at the death as Taylor rounded off a good personal day at the office with a conversion and a 29-12 victory to take back to Perivale.

By no means a great watch, this was - at times - a brutally physical affair, with crunching tackles coming in from all quarters, some perhaps more dubious in their legality than others ; Priorians found themselves on the wrong side of a number of decisions (many of which were justified), yet Windsor's general lack of attacking flair cost them dear ; a solid defence has been their building block at level 6 but perhaps have not done enough going forward to back it up, exemplified by having the lowest amount of try bonus points in the division (7).

The victory ensures that OPs will finish the season having achieved their best ever league finish - third at level 6 - with still one fixture to play, a nominal home fixture against Harpenden on the 11th April.

OPRFC SCORERS

T : Chippendale, Taylor 2, Fibbens

C : Taylor 3

P : Taylor