Big win for Windsor in relegation battle while Marlow go close at Old Priorians

Windsor 54, London Irish Wild Geese 44

Windsor hoisted themselves six points clear of the automatic relegation spots in Regional 2 Thames after winning a high-scoring clash at Home Park.

Andy Symons side lost either side of the winter break to Beaconsfield at home and Harpenden away, but they bounced back in fine fashion on Saturday, running in a series of tries to outscore visitors London Irish Wild Geese in a 54-44 thriller.

The two teams racked up nearly 100 points between them in a match that ebbed and flowed, but the hosts just about had the edge in the match – and on the scoreboard – as they claimed a crucial victory.

It’s a win that boosts their own survival hopes at the expense of one of their rivals and the aim, with seven matches left to play, is simply to finish out of the bottom two first and foremost.

This result opens a six-point lead over the Wild Geese and moves them to within a point of ninth placed Grasshoppers, who beat the Oxford Harlequins 38-27 at home this weekend.

Quins hopes of survival look especially bleak. Saturday’s loss leaves them 15 points from safety.

Windsor now face a tough spell of fixtures, starting at leaders Brunel University on Saturday week (January 31) followed by a trip to third placed Belsize Park on Valentine’s Day (Saturday, February 14). Anything they pick up from those two matches would be a welcome bonus.

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Old Priorians 29, Marlow 26

Marlow should be safe from relegation in the same division, but their checkered recent form continued as they lost 29-26 at Old Priorians.

Having seen their last home match against Grasshoppers at Riverwoods postponed due to a frozen pitch, Marlow travelled to the Priorians short of competitive match practice.

They looked more than competitive at Perivale Lane as they finished up just three points adrift of their fourth placed hosts. Having not played since their 58-35 win over Oxford Harlequins on December 20, it was quite a feat for them to go toe-to-toe with a Priorians side fighting at the top end of the table this season.

With a winnable game in hand over most of the teams above them, Marlow sit eighth in the table, nine points better off than ninth placed Grasshoppers.

They’ll be looking to stretch that advantage to 13 or 14 points when they host Grasshoppers in the rearranged fixture on Saturday (January 24). A win would also see them leapfrog seventh placed Aylesbury and sixth placed Harpenden.

They then host fifth placed Teddington at Riverwoods on January 31 and know back-to-back bonus point wins would likely lift them above Teddington on points difference.