OXFORD Quins claimed top spot and the bragging rights as they saw off Banbury Bulls 25-10 in front of a bumper crowd.

The South West 1 East high-fliers went toe-to-toe at Horspath Sports Ground, with an estimated 400 people watching on as the hosts leapfrogged their opponents at the summit.

Quins captain Allan Purchase went over after 18 minutes and a Banbury knock-on deep in their own territory gave the hosts the chance to extend their lead moments later, Jon Hughes touching down and Ewan Fox converting to make it 12-0.

Banbury struck first after half-time as skipper Ian Isham drove over from a rolling maul, but the visitors lost possession at the restart and their opponents took full advantage.

Top try-scorer Harry Burn went over and Fox converted, giving Quins a 19-5 lead before the hour mark.

The latter added a pair of penalties either side of another Isham score following a rolling maul, with Banbury’s second try also unconverted.

The win sent Quins three points clear at the summit, while they were also boosted by third-placed Bracknell’s 14-10 loss at Newbury Blues.

It capped a perfect day for the hosts, with 80 ex-first-team players attending a reunion lunch before the game.

Oxfordshire’s other sides in South West 1 East also won, with Witney triumphing 45-14 at Trowbridge and Grove beating Buckingham 38-24.

In National League 1, Chinnor dug deep in atrocious conditions to secure a gritty, hard-fought 19-12 victory at Plymouth Albion.

It was a real battle in the Devon mud, with the evergreen Soane Tonga’uiha leading from the front at the age of 40 with a sensational man-of-the-match display at loosehead prop.

Strong gusts brought relentless rain and Plymouth elected to play with the wind at their backs in the first period, but it was Chinnor who were playing the conditions effectively.

Conor Brockschmidt drove over from close range on 22 minutes, before they withstood Plymouth pressure to lead 7-0 at the interval.

The hosts replied on 48 minutes when Shea Cornish broke from his own half to score an unconverted try.

But Chinnor kept the scoreboard ticking over, as Luke Carter’s superb drop-goal and two James Bourton penalties made it 16-5.

Plymouth set up a potentially nervy final ten minutes when Jamie Salter plunged over for a converted try from a maul to close to within four points.

However, another Bourton penalty and effective game management ensured back-to-back wins for Chinnor.

Elsewhere, Henley Hawks went down 57-26 at National 2 South title-challengers Worthing.

George Wood’s try gave the visitors the lead, Monty Bradbury converting, but they trailed 17-7 at the break.

The mistakes increased and Worthing took advantage, stretching the gap to 50-7 with 15 minutes left.

Henley finished strongly, though, with Will Bordill, Will Panday and Marcus Lowe going over late on.

Wallingford beat Marlow 24-7 in Southern Counties North, while Bicester were edged out 27-24 by Reading Abbey and Gosford All Blacks went down 36-7 to Reading.