FIRSTLY well done to London Irish, who turned in a great performance at Madjeski Stadium to beat Jersey Reds 27-3.

They are still nine points clear at the top of the Greene King IPA Championship, and they must be really getting excited again about their chance of returning to the Premiership.

Jersey arrived in Berkshire as the only team to have downed their hosts’ in league action this season, so it was imperative Irish got off to a fine start.

They did this through skipper Josh McNally's fifth-minute try, and they then controlled the game to keep Reds well shackled and send Exiles' supporters home happy.

There is still no halting the Rams' rampage through National Two South as they clocked up their club-record 16th straight win with a 48-14 rout of visitors Barnes.

In 20 games they've already rattled up 712 points while conceding just 301, which is near enough an average winning scoreline of 36-15.

They are 16 points clear at the top of the table with 10 games to go, so the title looks on the cards, albeit they face a first trip to Guernsey on Saturday which Seb Reynolds will hope is not a banana skin.

A little down the proverbial food chain, my boys Reading secured a hard-fought and important 17-11 win against Stow-on-the-Wold which takes us further clear of the Southern Counties North bottom two.

I must admit there was a bit of a kit clash between their white-and-black hoops and our green-and-white hoops, but, at the end of the day, this was our fourth win in the last six matches and we seem to have found some form.

The win was by no means straightforward and considering we had a few of our key players out due to injuries, the lads who stepped up did a good job, especially the new-look front row of Steve Orwin, Alex Watson and Gavin Egan.

It was also good to see centre Grant Spears back in action and young Lewis Bowers in his second game at this level turned in another credible performance at scrum half.

Meanwhile, Reading Abbey have a week off like us following a solid 35-12 Berkshire derby win at home to Slough, and Berkshire Shire Hall will also be in good spirits following their 58-18 success at Harwell.