Old Priorians clung on for victory against Belsize Park in their first fixture of 2026, holding the ball up over the line to come away with a remarkable 48-43 win in Regent's Park and moving up to fourth in Regional 2 Thames in the process.

On an overcast and chilly afternoon at one of London's most centrally located grounds, the early exchanges were even if not fairly intense, both teams looking strong in attack. Belsize then proceeded to give away a number of penalties, allowing Priorians to gain valuable territory, scrum half Rory Gaffney taking a decisive tap that went into the backline after patient phases, Jared Braddock fed the ball to go over in the corner though it remained unconverted.

The Twisters continued to find themselves in decent positions but were not able to do anything effective with it, Park able to force some errors that pinned the visitors back into their own 22 ; a rolling maul from a lineout advanced the cause by 20 metres, was then flung wide and finished well by the Belsize backs. The conversion put the hosts ahead after fifteen minutes, making it 10-5 soon after with the Twisters giving away a penalty in front of the posts that was easily slotted for three points.

Priorians were able to respond immediately, Will Taylor doing very well to field a high ball as Michael Jobling was then set into space in the midfield, distributing to Gaffney who, despite having some work to do, made a successful dash for the line to establish parity, the difficult conversion going wide. OPs then nudged ahead once more through a penalty try, Belsize further punished with a yellow card for bringing the maul down as it crossed the line, Funbi Osuntoki denied of a try of his own.

Park looked unflustered despite the numerical disadvantage and the tactical strategy of playing through the forwards paid off, forcing the Twisters into errors, making use of the tap and go themselves to earn their second try of the afternoon, going unconverted as OPRFC retained a slim gap of two points at 17-15. That gap grew to nine through Ollie Mayes, the flanker making sure of a bonus point for his team having been set up by Taylor's scythe through the opposition defence, Jobling impressing with a touchline conversion.

Not to be outdone, Belsize Park got the last score of the half as they continued to force penalties in threatening areas, going over through one pass from the scrum set piece. The conversion made sure to keep the top-half rivals in check with the scoreline 24-22 at half time.

Any thoughts of the game slowing down in the second half were swiftly quashed and in some style ; a contender for try of the season, Priorians started a move on their own ten metre line that went through a series of fifteen to twenty passes, offloads perfectly timed as the defence was left in tatters. Jobling's deft dart then pass to Gaffney finished it in fine style, an easy effort in front of the posts to be assured of seven points from this visit to the 22.

The basketball nature of the scoring continued, OPs too ponderous in their own 22 and giving away a scrum thanks to some slow distribution from the breakdown. Belsize - who always looked threatening in these situations - made their opponents pay once more, now also making sure of a try bonus point with the tie now set at 31-29.

Momentum moved back towards Priorians who had their best spell of possession and phase play in the game, not allowing Park the chance to get their hands on the ball and working their way slowly down the pitch. A penalty pushed the ball into good territory, the maul taken from the lineout which was finished very well by Guy Djedje on his 198th OPRFC appearance, Braddock the main catalyst for success after crashing his way into the Belsize half.

Somewhat suprisingly, there was a lull of a little over ten minutes without a score, a period that saw OPs appearing to have the better of things only to gift possession back to Park through a dropped ball. A botched cross kick caused chaos for Priorians, giving away another scrum that Belsize took their opportunity from, the try converted for 38-36 with around fifteen minutes of play left. Jobling made it 41-36 soon after through a penalty kick as the match headed into its crucial final stages.

The 'you score, we score' pattern was finally broken minutes from the end of regulation time, the patient Twisters playing short phases then releasing the backs, an inside pass to Gaffney giving him his hat-trick and with it a twelve point lead that appeared to be enough to see the game out with.

Not so ; Belsize proved their credentials as one of the top sides in the division, remaining calm in the face of tremendous time pressure to score through a rolling maul with 60 seconds left on the clock, the ensuing kick crucially converted to give them a chance of a heroic victory.

Many on the sidelines would perhaps have expected the end of the match to soon follow, yet were greeted with a large swell of injury time - in which a suitable amount of drama followed. Park had all of the ball and were hammering their way down the pitch, picking up penalties on the way. With the final play set, they looked to that which had brought them so much joy across the 80 minutes - the scrum set piece, 5 metres from the line.

Able to get the ball back out quick, the forwards began their charge for the line, the desperate OPs defence continuing to push back the waves, until a final dive for the whitewash was attempted. The referee ajudged there to be Priorian arms under the ball - and so held up - signalling the end of the match as the Twisters recorded a fantastic away win, 48-43 the full time score.

Very much one for the neutral, this was a real showcase of the high quality that Regional 2 Thames has to offer - and for once, Priorians were on the right side of a close result this season, having suffered so much heartbreak previously. If we were to look at where the fixture was won, it may have been through a mixture of clinical OPs attack and flawed Belsize backline defence, coupled with their own chaos in the loose. Regardless, a well deserved five points for the visitors.

This moves allowes the Twisters to leapfrog Teddington and go eleven points clear of sixth, in an excellent position to make the playoff spots come the end of the season. Marlow make the trip to Perivale next Saturday.

OPRFC SCORERS

T : Braddock, Gaffney 3, Penalty Try, Mayes, Djedje

C : Jobling 5

P : Jobling