RiVCOLL fought its way into the Southern Inland Rugby Union top four for the first time this season by beating Ag College 22-12 at Beres Ellwood Oval on Saturday.

Rivcoll scored a total of four tries and in doing so clinched a valuable bonus point.

After leading 12-5 at half-time, Rivcoll thwarted several threatening Ag College attacks in the second half before wrapping up the important victory.

Rivcoll coach Tony Kelly said later the Reddies had been pushed all the way by their arch-rivals.

"I thought we played it pretty tight most of the day and we laid a pretty good platform early in the match," Kelly said.

"Our pick and go game was very strong at times and that gave us a bit of space around the edges to get some good metres.

"We were probably a little more patient last weekend against Grenfell, but these college games are always pretty intense.

"At times we rushed things too much and they spoiled us pretty well."

Kelly said Ag College had paid for having two players sin-binned late in the first half.

"That was the turning point," he said.

"We scored two tries when they had two players off the field.

"We used the extra numbers really well just before and after half-time,"

There was an air of disappointment in the Ag College camp, with coach Mick Friend lamenting how the team had let itself down in the second half.

"We lost a fair bit of structure in the second half which proved costly," Friend said.

"We need to lift as a team and do the little things better."

Friend said the the sin-binning of two Aggies players had made a huge impact on the game.

"It seemed pretty harsh," he said.

"We did surrender 10 points during that time which was eventually the difference at the end."

As Rivcoll celebrated breaking into the top four, Friend said Ag College now faced a tough assignment to get there.

"We will have to string together a few wins in the next month or so to give ourselves a second chance when the finals come aroun," he said.