Marlow Rugby Club have sewn up the Southern Counties North title with a match to spare after crushing Bletchley 74-7 at home last weekend.

Marlow started positively with a brace of early tries and their dominance grew from there as they were 45-7 up at the break.

With no attacking threat to deploy, Bletchley set to frustrate a Marlow side who struggled to establish the fluidity they desired despite notching up a total of 12 tries.  With the score at 74-7 the final whistle was greeted with relief by both sides.  

Head coach Rory Greenslade-Jones said: “That wasn’t our best performance, and I’m relieved it’s over. We have beaten everyone in this league and deserve to be champions.”

Director of rugby, James McKilliop, was ecstatic that the team achieved their dream of promotion. He added: “I am absolutely delighted for the guys. They have worked really hard.

“They have beaten everyone at least one and they truly deserve the title.

“I think the win against Bicester on April 1 was pivotal. It was a real do or die game for the title and to come from behind like we did and score 28 unanswered points in the second half.”

McKillop commented that another crucial game this season was back in the autumn when Marlow travelled to Milton Keynes and emerged victorious.

“We got real confidence from the win at MK in October,” explained McKillop.

“We played really poorly there the season before and it was a huge win for us and really kicked us on for the rest of the season.”

The director of rugby then reserved special praise for Greenslade-Jones’ hard work throughout the past seven or eight months.

He said: “He has built a team with confidence and has built a team with a game plan as well as installing a real ethos amongst the squad.”