Old Priorians proved their top half credentials with an impressive home win against Teddington, Mishka Fibbens scoring a brace as OPs were able to close out for victory at a rain soaked Perivale.

With the weather unconducive to free flowing running rugby, OPs missed a penalty which would have given them an early lead. Raphael Mutu eventually made the breakthrough for the Twisters at the start of the second quarter, claiming his first try for the club as Priorians were able to make the most of possession following a Teddington drop out.

The Antlers were able to strike back immediately with the hosts unable to make use of relatively safe field position, then losing a lineout on their own five metre line to give Teddington scrum half James Frankenberger the chance to score, which he duly took, unconverted for 5-5.

OPs retook the lead around ten minutes later through Mishka Fibbens to mark his 50th 1st XV appearance with a try which was converted by Charlie Harte. There was still time for the visitors to level things up before the break, a pick and go getting prop George Young over the line for Teddington, David Bradford converting to make it 12-12 at half time.

After some to and fro early in the second half - with both teams making inroads into each other's territory - the balance tipped in favour of Teddington, taking the lead for the first time through Jacob Holt, as good work from a tap and go on a halfway line free kick did not go unrewarded.

With around 25 minutes left of play, there was still plenty of time for the game to change despite the atrocious conditions. A fantastic break by Mutu allowed OPs to work their way up into the 22, the ball going wide to Harte who finished the move well, able to convert his own effort to boot ; this was shortly followed by Fibbens' second of the afternoon, as the Twisters moved ahead by 24-17 with the final quarter lying in wait.

Teddington exerted heavy pressure in the final stages, the signs pointing to a score that could potentially level the tie ; yet, resolute defence - with OPs holding the ball up over the line - along with some poor handling by the Antlers, saw a home win as they eventually moved the ball away from danger to record possibly their best victory of the season so far.

This couild well be a turning point in the season for Priorians - there have been occasions in high pressure matches during the 2025/26 campaign where they have not been able to convert a performance into five points, but were able to do so today against one of the strongest sides in the division, giving themselves a good platform to start pushing for a playoff spot in the second half of the league.

OPs travel to fifth place Aylesbury next Saturday.

OPRFC 24

T : Mutu, Fibbens 2, Harte

C : Harte 2

Teddington 17

T : Frankenberger, Young, Holt

C : Bradford