Staines tightened their grip on top spot in London One North with an 18-5 victory at arch-rivals Ruislip on Saturday.

The Hanworth side also had the added bonus of securing a place in the Middlesex Cup Final, a trophy they already hold.

Staines demonstrated their depth against coach Greg Knights’ former club, with forward James Stephenson and lock Paul Wilson making first XV debuts, while Richard Scott returned to the first team after a two-year absence at scrum-half.

Playing up the slope in the first half, Staines stretched the home side’s defence with a series of breaks and, after the home side had squandered two early penalties, Richard Mahony kicked the visitors in front.

Ruislip gave away a succession of penalties, resulting in one of their forwards being sin-binned for continuous infringement, but Staines failed to capitalise.

Indeed, Ruislip scored the first try of the match after 25 minutes to take a 5-3 lead.

However, with the elements in their favour, Staines overcame an early penalty miss from Mahony to take the lead.

James Cornish made an explosive break from midfield and outpaced the Ruislip cover to score out wide.

With their forwards now winning quality possession, Staines’ trapped Ruislip in their own half and a further Mahony penalty made it 11-5.

The match winning score came when full-back Andy Regan made a telling break before an inside pass found Stephenson, who showed great pace to score under the posts.

Staines visit Rochford on Saturday.