DRIFTERS RFC head coach Dan Gillespie has set his sights on a top-half finish in Southern Counties North this season.

The Farnham Common club secured their status in the division with a 28-25 win at Reading Abbey on Saturday.

Drifters supremo Gillespie missed the fixture at Rosehill to attend his mother’s 60th birthday but hopes his side will be celebrating come the end of the season.

Speaking exclusively to the Observer, he explained: “I would love to finish in the top half of the table because our form has been consistently good.

“The boys deserve to finish in the top half because they have been making big steps forward all the time.

“We have concentrated on securing our position in the league and I think we’ve done that now.

“Reading Abbey was a potential banana skin for the boys but they did a really good job. I know our skipper Dan Lake got them together and settled down because it was a bit frantic in the first-half.

“We tightened up in the second half and showed a good level of maturity, that is something we have been working on this season.” Reading looked like winners for much of the game on Saturday but fell apart in the latter stages and eventually went down by three points.

The hosts started brightly and took a deserved lead when Tom Waterhouse kicked a penalty on five minutes, but Drifters hit back as winger Ollie Ashton kicked between the posts.

Drifters suffered a blow when scrum half Tom Heeks was forced off through injury on 10 minutes, but his side edged ahead as Ashton obliged with another penalty.

The visitors suffered more injury misery as hooker Tim Bailey left the field. They conceded the first try soon after as Joe Hallett drove over to the right of the posts, and the simple conversion from Waterhouse put Reading 10-6 ahead.

Drifters capitalised on careless play when Ashton slotted a third penalty, but quick thinking from Aaron Ross allowed the hosts to extend their lead before half time.

After the award of a penalty right in front of the posts, he elected to tap and, to the relief of the watching support, he cut through the defence and fed Waterhouse to cross out wide.

The wind did not favour the tricky conversion attempt but the hosts still led 15-9 at the break with the crosswind in their favour in the second half.

Reading extended the lead when Waterhouse slotted a penalty but Drifters were gifted an immediate response when Charlie Gingell was unable to control a huge kick. Lake scored on the right from the ensuing scramble for possession but Ashton was unable to boot the extras.

The hosts appeared to be heading for a comfortable victory as Waterhouse chose the perfect angle to burst through and touch down under the posts from a scrum won against the head. And his straightforward conversion gave Reading a 25-14 lead on 52 minutes.

However, back came the visitors and Lake ran unopposed through a ragged defence and scored close to the posts. The conversion from Ashton cut the lead to four points.

Waterhouse was injured in the build-up and Reading appeared to run out of steam as Drifters’ backs became more and more prominent.

The killer blow arrived on 72 minutes when centre Alex Rankin cut through a tiring defence to score under the posts. Ashton was successful with the conversion but missed the opportunity to make the game safe with a simple penalty late on.

Drifters now turn their attention toward a visit from Royal Wootton Bassett tomorrow (Saturday, 3pm ko), where victory would see them leapfrog the Wiltshire club.

Gillespie said: “Wootton Bassett are only just above us and we didn’t give a good account of ourselves at their place, so it’s definitely marked down as something to rectify.

“Tom Heeks has got various knee issues but we hope he’ll not be damaged too much and we will be able to seem him through until the end of the season.

“Tim Bailey is a fairly resilient character and we hope they will both be available for Saturday because it would be great to get a win.

“We spend a lot of time working on fitness and intensity, and it does help in this league to play a full 80 minutes.” **PICK up a copy of the Observer, out now, for all the latest sports news and action including a full rugby round-up** **FOLLOW the Observer on Twitter at @Observer_sports**