Harpenden erased the disappointment of last week’s home defeat against Hammersmith and Fulham with a convincing 31-15 win at Old Merchant Taylors’ on Saturday.

The visitors consolidated fifth place in London Two North West as they clinched their eighth try bonus point of the season. Harp are also just three points behind second-placed Chiswick heading into the closing weeks of the season.

Harps captain Michael Goode said: “This was a good performance; we scored some good tries in the first half and there were a number of notable performances across the park. When we stuck to our game plan we did very well.”

Relishing a superb playing surface, Harpenden began in impressive fashion with two tries inside the first ten minutes. The first was finished off by centre Tom Stagg and the second scored by full-back Conor McClean following a defence-splitting run by Stagg.

OMTs hit back with a try of their own on 15 minutes by prop Gavin Long but their joy was shortlived as Harps right wing Yannick Green touched down almost immediately after a storming break by second row Zac Kent. John Collins added the conversion.

The hosts started to enjoy more possession which resulted in a try on 33 minutes by second row Jon Collins. But this was quickly cancelled out when visiting flanker Dave Green crossed the line to seal the bonus point.

Harps then took their foot off the gas to allow OMT flanker Dan Conway to score a third try for the OMTs just before the break to peg back the score to 24-15.

Using the slight slope and the wind to full advantage, the home side began the second half in determined fashion and for the first 15 minutes pinned Harps deep in their half. However, Harp were resolute in defence and Taylors' were unable to turn their dominance into points.

Having weathered the storm, Harps went on the attack and were rewarded with a try by Kent when he pounced on a loose ball after Collins tackled his opposite number at the base of a scrum near the OMT line.

Stung into action, OMTs went on the attack again, but although Harps were giving away a series of penalties, poor handling meant they were unable to secure the losing bonus point that would have eased their relegations fears.