SWINDON College Old Boys head coach Mark Lea has hailed his side’s victory over Hungerford as the best performance of the season, as they maintained their 100 per cent record.

A hat-trick from Matt Allen helped College to see off a well drilled Hungerford RFC 25-10 at the Nationwide Pavilion on Saturday. The win takes Old Boys within two points of Reading Abbey, at the top of the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Premier division.

From the off the hosts looked more up for the challenge and it was not long before the first opportunity arose for the backs, as Ross Saville placed a well weighted grubber behind the Hungerford defence for Allen to get hold of and cross the line.

With Charlie Grabe absent, Liam Spillane stepped in for the kicking duties but failed with his first conversion attempt.

Toby Haynes was next to go over the line for the hosts after College secured a scrum on the Hungerford. The ball was worked well along the back row with Haynes going over in the corner after he stepped four covering defenders.

Spillane again missed with the conversion to keep the score at 10-0, before Hungerford’s fly half was allowed to slip through prior to half-time to reduce the deficit to just three points.

After the break Damon Murphy received his first yellow card in club colours and a host of other penalties eventually gave Hungerford an opportunity to go for posts and even the scores.

College bounced back though and, after some good tackling from substitute Adge Cutler, Allen was able to cross the line for a second time with Spillane converting.

A penalty from Spillane was followed by a try from Allen to complete his hat-trick in the dying minutes and extend College’s unbeaten run.

Lea was over the moon with his side’s performance and vows that he won’t let his players get complacent as they look to extend their run of form.

"The fear before the game of complacency never surfaced,” he said.

“I was really proud of all 18 players in the way they approached the game and the ferocious defence they showed during it.

“It was by far the best performance so far this season"

“The performance stood out for our defensive work. We did not allow a well drilled side in Hungerford to gain any control of the match.

“The lads were really together as a strong unit. This camaraderie is why players want to play for Swindon College.

“Our players left everything on the field and as a coach that’s all you ask for.

“The work is only just started, we need to keep improving every week if we want to keep this unbeaten record, we simply can’t take any side in this league lightly.”