Stevenage Town 9 - Welwyn 15

Welwyn moved into the top half of the table with an impressive win away to Stevenage Town.

Saturday's victory has propelled them into fifth position in London Three North West Division, five points adrift of league leaders Haringey. Stevenage, on the other hand, drop to ninth place following the loss, just six points above bottom club Fullerians.

Welwyn welcomed back Iain Ward at number eight and with coach Peter Engledow still striving to find the best recipe for the back division, Welwyn experimented with yet another new half-back combination. Gareth Hughes moved to scrum-half and Neo Combarro donned the number 10 shirt. Jonathan Child was preferred at full back, with Luke Williams returning to the right wing. In fact, the only places retained were those in the centre and the left wing.

The changes paid off against their North Road hosts with the visitors taking the lead after 10 minutes. An over-zealous Stevenage went over the top during a ruck and gave away a penalty 30 yards from their own line. Hughes gratefully converted to give the away side a three point lead. From the restart the home team advanced forward and conceded a penalty 10 yards from the Welwyn line. Welwyn failed to make touch and Stevenage capitalised to gain a penalty for a maul infringement, which they converted to level the score after 20 minutes.

Welwyn regained the lead almost immediately, driving to the 10 yard line and from a scrum the forwards won quick ball and Combarro beat his man and threw out a pass to Kyle Birkin. Faced with a two-on-one situation, Birkin delivered a beautifully timed pass to Ed Knapp, who did the rest in the corner. The conversion was narrowly missed.

In the dying minutes of the half, Welwyn's forwards drove on their third and final sortie beyond the Stevenage 22. The home side went over the top in the ruck and from the quickly taken penalty, Birkin powered under the posts for a cracking try. Hughes made no mistake from the conversion and Welwyn went in at half-time 15-3 up.

A rejuvenated Stevenage came out for the second half a different team. In the first five minutes the deficit was reduced by three points when the hosts' fly-half kicked an excellent drop goal from 35 yards out. A series of injuries to the Welwyn pack unsettled the team and the home side began to dominate the scrummage. Their dominance spread across the pitch, but the visitors refused to crumble. Welwyn's defence was magnificent and never yielded to the midfield onslaught.

Play was restricted once more between the respective 22s and there was no further score. The result reflected the pattern of the game, but it was another day where basic mistakes held Welwyn back.

Against the top teams unforced errors will not go unpunished.