Oxford Harlequins director of rugby John Brodley felt the victory over Cleve underlined his side’s progress.

He said: “Cleve are a good side, so I think this victory was a clear indication that we are bottom of the top teams in this division rather than top of the bottom.

“That win should have given us a lot of belief that we can go further.

“There were areas we can improve, but we were disciplined for the first time.

“We didn’t give them any easy scores.”

Brodley added: “In the first half we were looking to gain territory.

“We knew they were a side who didn’t concede many points, so we had to play in their half.

“We were very solid up front.

“The line-out, especially when Craig Burrows was on, was really effective and took quite a lot of their ball.”