It was the Crows first home game of the season and they were good value for their win as they ran out 38-19 winners against a spirited Harwell side.

It didn’t take long for the hosts to take the lead as a dummy by Brad Mills created a gap which allowed him to run through and dive under the posts to put Crowthorne in control.

Dougie Charman added the extras but within two minutes Harwell were level after a lapse in concentration from the Crows defence allowed the visitors to score a converted try of their own.

But the hosts were dominating the scrum and line-out, which provided a solid platform to base their attack off.

Captain Sam Short put Crows back in the lead when he crossed the whitewash for a converted try shortly before half-time.

But the visitors came storming back again in the second-half and laid siege to the hosts’ tryline – eventually drawing level when they crossed following a five-metre scrum.

The try was a wake up call for Crows though, who started a dominant period of possession that saw Charman, James Huckle and Greg Redpath cross the whitewash in quick succession after some superb, incisive passing from the backs.

Charman finished off his man of the match performance with the final score of the game as he crossed under the posts to give Crows a bonus point win to move them into third place in the Berks Bucks & Oxon Championship after two games.

Crowthorne travel to Didcot on Saturday (3pm).

It was also a great week for Crowthorne Ladies, who ran out 26-19 winners in a tough battle against Guildford Gazelles.

It was a tight start, with Gazelles constantly defending against the stream of Thorns attacks on the edge of their 22.

The hosts eventually took the lead when Thorns worked the ball wide to Helen Rosi and she crossed out wide to open the scoring.

The conversion was unsuccessful and it remained 5-0 until the interval.

If the first-half was tight, the second-half was anything but and Gazelles took the lead just five minutes in with a converted try.

But Thorns fought back immediately and regained the lead when Jess Rees overturned a scrum and worked it wide to Jess Irvine who crossed the whitewash for the score.

Holly Bentley converted the try to restore the five point lead, but it didn’t last long as Gazelles fought back again.

A converted try after good work in the scrum saw the visitors go 14-12 ahead, but that was as good as it got for Guildford.

Two converted tries in quick succession by Irvine and Caz Shepherd saw Crowthorne race into a 26-14 lead, which never looked like losing.

The visitors were reduced to 14 men late on after a high tackle saw a yellow card produced, but they did grab the last score of the game with an unconverted try.

The home side held on though to secure the win after a stern examination from their opponents.

Crowthorne Ladies travel to Newbury Ladies on Sunday October 12 (3pm).