Harpenden clinched their second consecutive London Two North East victory as they defeated UCS Old Boys 38-19.

Harps made the best possible start as powerful flanker Michael Goode touched down under the posts after just two minutes.

However, any thoughts that it would be an easy contest were quickly erased as UCS’s James May crashed over for a try from a rolling maul.

Harpenden quickly responded and re-established their lead as Nick Childs was given room to go over following a good run from fly-half Joe Tennant.

Goode blotted his copybook by being sin-binned in the 20th minute and that forced Harps to defend before left wing Adam Stirling powered over. Yannick Green added his third conversion of the contest.

Harps were 21-7 ahead at the interval but a poor defensive kick shortly after the restart enabled UCS to set up a quick counter attack and score through their captain James Boyd.

UCS worked hard to try and find an equaliser but further tries from Goode and Stirling, the second converted by Green, put the game beyond the West Hampstead outfit’s reach.

And although Alex Klimov grabbed a third try for UCS, Harpenden replacement Dave Green atoned for his sin-binning at the start of the second half by touching down shortly before the final whistle.

Head coach Matt Davies said: “There were lots of areas of our game that I was very happy with today. For example, I thought we kept the ball well and we were always positive in attack.

“We now face a tough challenge at St Albans. They are a good side who are well coached, and if we are to succeed, it’s absolutely essential that we match their physicality.”

Harpenden will look to make it three wins in a row as they travel to St Albans on Saturday.