JAMES McLaughlin and Greig O’Brien marked their Swindon College Old Boys return with a try apiece to help them slay Slough 31-16 in Berks, Bucks & Oxon Premier.

Liam Spillane bagged a brace of touchdowns and Matt Allen also dotted down as Old Boys made a swift return to winning ways following their first defeat of the campaign a week earlier.

The result keeps College hot on the heels of league leaders Reading Abbey and gave them the perfect tune-up for Saturday’s Dorset & Wilts Vase final clash against Blandford.

Coach Mark Lea hailed his side’s display against Slough, adding that only a spate of stoppages prevented his troops from racking up a bigger score.

“This game was made harder than it should have been,” said Lea.

“We dominated all aspects of the game but the whistle seemed to stop any flow the game might have had and made the afternoon a frustrating one for many.

“We never looked in trouble and, when allowed to work through the phases, scored some excellent tries.

“Slough played a pretty basic game plan of moving the ball left of the breakdown, then right and repeating it. As always, our defence was a weapon and the basic tactics were not enough to break us down.

“Captain Gareth Davis was outstanding and there were also encouraging performances from James McLaughlin and Greig O’Brien, with new recruit Jamie Park slotting in very well at fly-half.”

Elsewhere, in Southern Counties South Supermarine lost for the ninth time this season as they went down 43-7 at Dorchester.