Old Priorians move into fifth place and with it a Regional 2 Thames play-off spot after dispatching Windsor 38-19 at Perivale, with both captain Cathal Sheehan and Michael Jobling scoring twice as the Twisters ran in six tries.

Early signs indicated that Windsor would be the first to get points on the board, having had the lion's share of possession in the first ten minutes, but sloppy play around the ruck presented Sheehan with the chance to pounce on a spilled ball, then advancing 90 metres down the pitch to cross in the corner for his first try. Charlie Harte's conversion attempt bounced off both uprights before falling the wrong side of the bar, OPs leading 5-0.

The visitors again showed some promise in their endeavours but couldn't really execute anything of note in the first half and were punished for it via a try for Rory Gaffney just before the half hour, set up via a deft step then chip through by full back Will Taylor ; Tom Batt was on hand to marshal a rolling maul five minutes later and get his fourth try of the season, as Priorians went into half time with a 17-0 lead.

The Twisters got the ever crucial bonus point within the opening stages of the second half, Michael Jobling timing an interception to perfection before evading the last man to head in under the posts. A busy start to the second 40 minutes gave Sheehan his second try after a flowing, multi-phase move set the platform for him to punch through and surpass his best return for the club, 11 tries in 11 games his total for 2025/26 so far.

At 31-0, complacency may have begun to creep into OPRFC ranks, even with half an hour of the game left, leading to Windsor having a spell of possession where they were able to work themselves into the 22 before going wide for their first try of the afternoon, well converted to give faint hope.

Those hopes were soon vanquished, winger James Paxman making a tremendous tackle to give Rory Gaffney the opportunity to turn the ball over, the scrum half darting through then making the pass to Jobling, who did remarkably well to take it both at pace and behind him and finish the move with aplomb, Harte converting for 38-7 as the last quarter of the match loomed.

With the intermittent rain making its return and lashing at the surface, play began to peter out somewhat with the result little in doubt ; Windsor may have had more at stake at this point in their quest for bonus points, closing in on success following two tries, but were unable to do enough for a fourth and so come away with nothing, 38-19 the full time score.

A good 80 minutes from Old Priorians who never looked like they were going to lose after going ahead, with Windsor showing some degree of promise but ending up telegraphing moves that proved to be their downfall.

The result takes OPs up to fifth with the first half of the season complete, as they head to London Irish Wild Geese next Saturday.

OPRFC SCORERS

T : Sheehan 2, Gaffney, Batt, Jobling 2

C : Harte 4