BASINGSTOKE RFC head coach Gareth Hatherley-Hurford felt his side produced one of their best performances of the season, even if they end up on the wrong end of a 39-14 to KCS Old Boys in London Two South West.

Hatherley-Hurford said: “It was an excellent game against KCS. At 22-14 with 11 minutes to go, it was all the play for really.

“To their credit KCS remained firm and saw the game out. It was an awesome display from our boys and showed what they are capable of."

Next up for Stoke is their opening home fixture of 2016 against Effingham and Leatherhead at Down Grange.

The visitors are currently ninth in the table, after they lost on Saturday to London Cornish 29-3.

Stoke's head coach added: “I am really excited about Saturday’s game, because it will be an opportunity to take their last performance and hopefully use that as ammunition to put in another good performance at home.

“Effingham are no fools and they will come at us hard they had a tough loss to London Cornish, but no team at any point should be underestimated, so we will treat it as any other challenge so far this season.

Stoke’s game at KCS saw the return of front row Charlie Eaves and Stevie Hicks to the back row. Hicks is a former club captain and is a great addition for the rest of the season.

Looking back on the game captain Rob Northcote said: “For the first game of the year and the first since the festive break it was extremely promising.

“I’ve said this before, but frustratingly the scoreline didn’t accurately represent the game. Something we need to concentrate on is our last 15 minutes focus, as KCS scored three tries and made what was a relatively close game seem not so.”

A huge positive for Stoke were the performances of Ben Hawkins and Mickey Jacob. Hawkes had a solid game at 15, especially under the high ball in wet conditions. He also made some great line breaks and was the team’s man of the match award.

Jacob had a good game at 12 and helped reduce the pressure on fly-half Will Joyce.

During the second half the visitors played the conditions really well using the boot of Joyce and Jacob.

They were able to set up some good field possession and kept the pressure up on the home side.

Joyce proved solid with the boot and kept the scoreboard ticking over for the visitors.

Stoke's only try of the game came midway through the second half after some continued pressure and a great kick return by Fraser Parris.

The visitors were then awarded a penalty for a high tackle on Parris and the KCS full-back was yellow carded.

Jacob punished the home side with a great kick into their 22 and a well-executed catch and drive from the line out, saw Tom Price get over the line for a great team try.