The youthful visitors fell foul of the referee in the opening half, and were consistently penalised throughout, allowing the powerful Didcot pack to put them under pressure at the set piece.

And the third-placed hosts took the lead in the eighth minute when Andy Pynegar knocked over a penalty after the Crows were pinged for handling in the ruck.

On a particularly soft pitch, the Crowthorne forwards did their best to secure enough ball for their talented backs to utilise, and they hit back to take the lead in the 16th minute.

After two rucks had sucked in the Didcot defence, the Crows then pieced together four passes to move the ball out wide, creating a two-man overlap which Nick Elbethite finished off for his first score for the club.

The remainder of the match was attritionally played out inside the Didcot half but the Crows were unable to create the spaces required to increase their lead.

A number of opportunities came their way but the conditions made it hard for penalties to be converted or try-scoring chances to be taken and so they had to settle for a gritty and low-scoring triumph.

The man-of-the-match award went to Dan Stanton (pictured below left), who provided the link between forwards and backs while deputising at scrum half.

Crowthorne enjoy a bye week this coming Saturday before returning to action when they welcome in-form Berkshire Shire Hall to Cricket Field Grove on Saturday, February 21.

The Crows will be hoping to gain revenge after their opponents edged to a 26-20 win back in December, although Karl Roberts’ men enjoyed a comfortable 47-15 cruise in the earlier home game.

• CROWTHORNE Ladies secured a magnificent 53-29 win at Lewes in a friendly on Sunday.

The Thorns took to the field for the eighth time this season, which will allow them to compete in league matches next term.

They took an early lead at Lewes but then had to absorb a lot of pressure in an end-to-end first half, with the Thorns entering the break 26-24 up.

An injury meant Crowthorne had to play the second half with a numerical disadvantage, but they showed tremendous character to boss proceedings and seal a deserved victory.

Back-of-the-match Yasmin Jenkins, Holly Bentley, Kirsty Robson and Jess Irvine were among the tryscorers, while Bentley also kicked a string of conversions.

Emma Read was named as the best forward for Crowthorne.