A fine eighty minute performance from Old Priorians saw them run in six tries against London Irish Wild Geese at Sunbury on Saturday afternoon, doing the double over their league rivals and climbing another place up to fourth in Regional 2 Thames in the process, 38-12 the final score.

In what was a high quality match, there was little to pick apart between the two sides in the opening stages, until OPs made a successful foray into Irish territory, winning a penalty ten metres out and running the ball, prop Funbi Osuntoki powering over the line following a couple of tidy phases, Charlie Harte converting.

Wild Geese looked threatening in response and soaked up the majority of possession, wending their way down the pitch with the signs pointing towards a score ; however, a well timed interception from Harte gave him the space to run in from 70 metres and outstrip the backs to make it a second for the Twisters with around twenty minutes gone.

The hosts generally had the edge in the scrum across the 80 minutes and it provided a foundation for their first try of the day, the ball then sent wide into the backs where they were able to score in the corner, a difficult conversion fading away from the posts to make it 14-5 towards the last ten minutes of the half.

A fairly even affair in terms of respective penalty counts, OPs took advantage of their chances well and following Harte's kick into touch - taking the Twisters up to the 5 metre line - a rolling maul was put into action, Ollie Mayes the one to touch down. No luck this time with the conversion, but 19-5 it was, the first half ended with Rory Gaffney's boot to touch.

After a lengthy delay at the start of the second half following a head injury to a London Irish player, it was Gaffney who inspired the next score and gave Priorians a try bonus point ; making a break on the blindside from a scrum, he dashed into the 22 and fed winger Luke Pedreschi who did very well to finish the move and get his first five pointer for the 1st XV.

The visitors very much dictated the pace of play, especially as the game progressed, not allowing Irish the space to develop any promising moves and the staunch defence proving to be a strong point ; turning possession over, once again the Twisters found themselves in a good position and the pick and go attempts paid off, Guy Djedje getting his position right to cross, Michael Jobling taking over kicking duties and adding the two extra points.

Despite the scoreline, it never felt like Wild Geese were entirely out of the fixture and so it proved with their second try ; having forced OPs into a number of scrum penalties, a simple yet effective move saw the fly half step through the opposition and score - with enough time left to perhaps muster something from the match.

It was not to be as the Twisters continued to hold strong in the last quarter, finishing off the game with a customary try for captain Cathal Sheehan, who now has twelve in twelve for the season. Jobling's conversion meant the match ended 38-12, an excellent away win for Priorians.

This was perhaps the best performance of the campaign so far, with the result never truly in doubt ; Irish themselves showed enough to prove that second bottom in the table was a betrayal of quality, yet they were not able to finish moves well on the day which may be symptomatic of their current plight.

OPs will play Brunel in the final fixture of 2025 next Saturday before the festive break.

OPRFC SCORERS

T : Osuntoki, Harte, Mayes, Pedreschi, Djedje, Sheehan

C : Harte 2, Jobling 2