Alchester were put to the sword by a rampant Marlow team who put a season’s best points total on the board during a 60-7 triumph at Riverwoods.

Saturday’s shower of tries trumped the 51-12 demolition of Wallingford back in October, and, more importantly, improved their points difference as they look to gatecrash the top five in the Southern Counties North table.

The victory also extended Marlow’s impressive run on home soil this campaign, with the crushing win becoming a ninth in their last ten matches on their own patch.

The squad’s inability to replicate it on their travels is a frustration for head coach Richard Kinsey, however.

“I was saying to the chaps on the weekend that we’ve won lots at home and it’s not that they can’t win [away from home] it’s this whole sort of voodoo thing going round about going away and the preparation for it,” he said.

“Obviously other teams play well at home as well. It’s like the Premiership, you try and nick a few points away and win your home matches. They’re a confident group of players and they’re a good group of players.

“Coming together and playing well, like we did at the weekend, is the sort of performance I expect them to string together. It’s when they don’t play well and when they don’t have the confidence to expand the game that they become slightly less successful.”

In total the hosts ran in ten tries en route to the triumph, with four tries for George Jafari, a brace each for Shaun Miller and Matt Saunders, and one apiece for Hugo Jafari and Charlie Rigg.

The sum of Alchester’s efforts came when they were 55-0 down in the 73rd minute but wasn’t enough to stop their relegation from the division being confirmed.

A trip to third place Aylesbury is the task facing Marlow tomorrow, and Kinsey is looking to carry the momentum from their biggest win of the season into Saturday’s clash.

He said: “It can’t hurt going into an away match that we expect to have a very tough game having had a very good victory like that. But, as I say to the boys, don’t get carried away with it.

“A win is a win and I expect them to win every week so don’t jump up and down thinking that you’ve achieved the world when you’ve had one good win.

“Yes Aylesbury will be a tough match the weekend, I expect it to be a pretty abrasive game, but going into it on the back of a very convincing win, and having had the opportunity to go through our game plan at match pace, I am very, very pleased.”