Old Priorians Saints fell to a 48-35 defeat against London Welsh Dragons at Old Deer Park, taking a try bonus point back to Perivale following a physical yet entertaining 80 minutes of rugby in South West London.

OPs were forced to start with fourteen players but found themselves in the lead through Josh Chippendale's early try under the posts, the Saints making good use of poor Welsh handling to advance into the 22 to set up the centre for a score on his return to rugby, captain Theo Morris converting to take it to 7-0.

The Dragons were able to hit back relatively quickly as their quick backs exploited the natural gap to make it one try each, but were unable to convert. Priorians - who had to work very hard for territory and possession - once again made inroads into dangerous areas and it was Chippendale again who bustled his way through defenders for a second try of the day.

In a first half that ebbed and flowed, Welsh were especially good at the breakdown and snaffled possession back on numerous occasions, helping to set a platform for another score before half time to reduce arrears to two points at the break - at this point, an even contest with the Saints deserving to be ahead through persistent endeavour.

An unfortunate series of sliced kick offs by OPs at the start of the second half handed the advantage back to London Welsh, who were able to capitalised on all three occasions to build a lead early into the third quarter of the fixture as Priorians began to tire and rethink their game strategy ; however, they regrouped well and through some expressive rugby - spreading the ball wide and making sure to put it through numerous hands - went over via Timmy Oyinlola, running in from around 30 metres and stepping the final tackler for a well taken score. Morris converted and the Saints came back to within a score.

The Dragons were able to wrest back full control of the fixture, however, and despite an excellent break from Will Poyntz leading to the try bonus point, the Saints were unable to get themselves back into the game, though they did have the last laugh with Ruben Yue's score in the final play to put more than enough respectability on the board, 48-35 at full time.

While defeat is never the preferred option, Old Priorians ought be proud of their performance, with some classic Joue rugby and positive phase play, all with some players out of position. The Dragons were also a good opposition and to remain competitive against such an outfit augurs well for the future.

The Saints are away to London Cornish II next Saturday.

OPRFC SCORERS

T : Chippendale 2, Oyinola, Poyntz, Yue

C : Morris 5