Steve O'Reilly could not have asked for a better result when he took a side north for the first time.

The Crawley Jets player/coach scored two tries and piled up 18 points as his side battled through 22-19 at Rotherham Giants to put themselves back on play-off course.

It may have been the wrong side of the Pennines for St Helens boy O'Reilly but he relished the trip to the 13-a-side game's heartland.

He admitted: "I smiled to myself on the way up there about a taking a team back up north.

"We really enjoyed it. I got a nice warm reception to say the least and it was a really close fought tie.

"The first ten minutes were a real eye opener. They ran all over us, but the players realised they would have to stand up and be counted."

An all-pay crowd in excess of 300 watched Giants take an instant 6-0 lead which Richard Billings cancelled out with a classic finish after some slick handling.

Then O'Reilly silenced the home fans with two super tries and a couple of long range penalties to establish a lead which Jets held on to in a rousing finale.

All 17 men used by Crawley were outstanding, including Ben Brooks, making his first appearance since the Grand Final defeat by Chester almost two years ago. He came in as a last minute replacement for injured Riann Kruger.

Evidence of the potential pitfalls of cross conference clashes in the north was provided by news of West London Sharks' 38-16 capitulation at Chester.

Sharks were outstanding in winning at Crawley the previous week but were hit by player withdrawals for the trip north and suffered as a result.

North London Skolars, the other side going for top spot in Crawley's group, battled to a 28-20 home win over Manchester Knights.

With Sharks and Skolars yet to meet each other, Jets know they will go through to the last eight if they win their remaining games, starting at Streatham and Croydon today where lowly South London are the opponents.

Alex Meredith is still unavailable but Kruger and Jon Stabler hope to return.

O'Reilly added: "All we need to do is to keep winning and to keep playing to a structure.

"The only time we throw games away is when we don't stick to the gameplan."

Jets' run-in takes them to St Albans next Saturday and is rounded off by a visit from Kingston on August 4.

The play-offs start on August 11 and the Grand final is on September 1.

But no-one is thinking about that just yet at Willoughby Fields.