IT was a pretty successful weekend for our sides and none more so than London Irish, who pulled off a memorable victory at Stade Francais.

They led 24-7 at the break, but were then put under severe pressure by the home team in the early part of the second half, only to score three late tries to seal the deal.

Let’s hope they can take this momentum into their next game away at Saracens this Saturday.

Redingensians Rams also kept their momentum going in National Two South with a hard-fought home win against Old Redcliffians.

They’re racking up the points as well, having clocked-up 127 in their past three outings.

They take on eighth-placed Barnstaple at Old Bath Road this Saturday as they seek a fourth straight win.

Also in good form last Saturday were Reading Abbey, whose fine first-half performance set the platform for an excellent Southern Counties North win at Gosford All Blacks and who, this Saturday, welcome High Wycombe to Rosehill.

As for my boys Reading, well, I suppose, there were many who may have seen the result from Saturday’s game and blinked twice to see if they had read it wrong.

Sadly, visitors Thatcham did deservedly triumph.

It was the first time our two clubs had met in league action as Thatcham had never been high enough up the league ladder to get a game against us, but it shows what a change of coach and management can accomplish – especially if they’ve been groomed at Sonning Lane.

We started okay, but did not take enough advantage of the conditions in the first half to secure a big enough lead.

Thatcham’s pack looked very strong and did a good job on us and they deserved their win in the end, but we at least came away with a losing bonus point As for off the field, we saw many of our old star players who came up for a retirement meal for ex-coach Mike Tewkesbury who took us up the leagues back in the 90s.

You can imagine some of the old stories which came out over a few refreshments during the day and night.

Lastly, well done to Berkshire Shire Hall on a first win of the season at Faringdon