SWINDON College Old Boys manager Martin Peaple was delighted to come away with a bonus point from the visit to Harwell.

The Wiltshire side triumphed 29-7 at the strugglers on Saturday in a rearranged fixture, allowing them to tighten their grip on second place in the Berks/Bucks & Oxon Premier and close the gap on Stow-on-the-Wold at the top to just four points.

And Peaple believes grabbing the extra point could prove valuable in the context of the league season.

“We managed to get a bonus point and I think they are going to be really important this year,” he said.

“We’re still in second place and are four points above third - although they have a game in hand - but bonus points will prove important when we get to the end of the season.

“If you can pick up a few of those then it can make up for a bad Saturday where you should have won but didn’t.

He added: “It was a lot better than the original game when we were under the cosh.

“We were never behind this time against a strong team. The forwards played well and were well-supported by the backs.”

Scott Buchanan got the scoring going on Saturday when he went over with just two minutes on the clock.

That was followed by another try by Joe Gill midway through the half, putting Old Boys 10-0 up.

Harwell hit back with a converted try on the half-hour mark, but Toby Haines replied for the visitors and his try was converted by Buchanan.

The second half began in similar fashion to the first, Eoin Crean touching down just two minutes into the period, with Buchanan again adding the extras.

Charlie Grabe completed the scoring on the hour mark to give Old Boys a significant margin of victory.

Old Boys’ match at Harwell this weekend was a rearranged fixture after the original clash was abandoned at the beginning of last month.

One of Harwell’s players slipped a disc with his team two points up, and by the time two ambulances turned up an hour and a half later, both teams had already decided it was too dark to continue.

At the weekend there were no fixtures in National League 3 South West, South West 1 East, Dorset & Wilts 1 North and Dorset & Wilts 2 North, and no cup fixtures involving local sides.

However, there is a full programme of matches this coming Saturday, with Old Boys scheduled to travel to rock-bottom Risborough.