In a game Director of Rugby Gavin Lach described beforehand as ‘a must-win’, a strong first half performance at College Meadow was enough to secure a narrow 28-22 victory and knock Park off the top of National One. It also fired the Old Boys back into the promotion mix, just one point behind leaders Blackheath.

For player-coach Adam Preocanin (pictured), who has been in outstanding form since returning to the side before Christmas following injury, the result and the performance couldn't have come at a better time.

“It was really good to get back to some OEs rugby in the first half, and we really needed it after a couple of tough defeats,” he said. “We found our rhythm and Whitey [Tom White] pulled all the right strings in the first half. The way we controlled the game and didn’t give Park any chance to play was particularly pleasing.

“However, that changed in the second half and the roles were reversed, although I think we could have wrestled back some control by doing more with the ball that we did have.

He continued: “It was a really interesting game in the sense that Championship rugby is all about controlling possession, and moulding the opposition into tough situations over many phases. Our ability to do that at a high level will not only help us in our bid to win National 1, but will give us a better chance to survive in the Championship if we were to get there.”

Tomorrow’s opponents Birmingham are at the wrong end of the table just one point off the bottom three in 13th place. However their form since the arrival at the end of October of new head coach Collin Osborne, a former 1st team centre with the club and part of the senior coaching team at Harlequins for over 20 years, has been much improved.

They have won four of their last seven games, including notable victories over Plymouth Albion and Bishop’s Stortford and have scored the third most points in the division behind Rosslyn Park and Ampthill. Last Saturday they went down by just one point at promotion contenders Rotherham Titans after conceding a late score.

Although Ethamians have won all three previous meetings between the two sides, it’s safe to say games between the pair are never dull. The two fixtures last season served up 18 tries and 124 points. And in the most recent meeting in September at College Meadow, OEs were taken to the wire by the powerful Birmingham outfit who fought back from 24-10 down to take a narrow lead midway through the second half, before finally succumbing 38-27.

With just 12 games of the season remaining and the top four sides separated by just one point, National One is heading for its closest promotion run-in in more than a decade. None of the chasing pack can afford any more slip-ups between now and the end of the season - in the last 11 National One campaigns, only two sides have lost more than four games during the course of the season and gone on to lift the title - Doncaster in 2013/14 and Richmond in 15/16 - and they both lost just five.

“National 1 is a really tough league in general, and a really hard league to win,” said Preocanin who won two promotions to the Championship with Ealing Trailfinders in 2012/13 and 2014/15 . “Part of that is the variety of the teams playing within it, but also the length of the season. Before the start of the season I was confident we would be there or thereabouts, and so far we’re in the mixer, but there’s 40 per cent of the season left!

“In terms of what’s happened so far, of course, we can look at games we haven’t won and say we should have done better But these are the accumulation of lots of smaller processes that we should be looking to improve. For one, doing so will lead to better outcomes (and potentially win us those games); and two, if we’re serious about making the step up to the Championship then those processes need to be improved anyway.”

He added: “I do think we’re good enough to get promoted, and some of our key players have really developed this year. I would be excited to see how they could mix it up in the Championship, but we have to get there first.”