Doug Dobson had a debut to remember as Old Centralians enjoyed a good day out at Witney on Saturday.

The Hartpury College student went on as a replacement and scored two tries to help his side to an emphatic 47-24 win in Regional 2 Severn.

“He’s new to the club, he’s a really good lad,” said co-captain and fly-half Harry Preece. “He came on and made a big impact.”

Another Hartpury College student, Harry Davis, was also among Cents’ seven try-scorers, with their other tries scored by Spencer Miller (2), Diontay King and Solomon Farrer.

Miller, a hooker, joined the club from Gloucester Old Boys in the summer and 30-year-old Preece, who shares the captaincy duties with Wayne Mulhern, said: “He’s started really well, he’s a breath of fresh air, he’s playing really well at the minute.”

Miller is one of a number of new faces at Old Cents, and Preece, who slotted six conversions against Witney, continued: “There’s a good feeling at the club, the new players have freshened it up a bit, we’re going in the right direction.”

Saturday’s win was their third on the bounce, a run that began earlier this month with a 26-12 win at home to previously unbeaten Longlevens.

“They’re a good side, they beat us three times last season,” added Preece. “It was a local derby, they are the ones you target, it was nice to put one over them.

“League position goes out the window in those games.”

Old Centralians are now fifth in the 12-strong division after winning four of their opening six games.

They host seventh-placed Thornbury on Saturday before entertaining unbeaten leaders Trowbridge in early November, so what are their aims for this season?

“We’re really happy at the level we’re playing,” said Preece. “We obviously want to win as many games as we can but we just want to enjoy playing rugby.

“If we can win more games than we lose and finish in the top half and hopefully have a Combination Cup run, that would be good.

“The main aim is to get two sides out as often as we can.”