Welwyn 13
Chingford 24
(London Two North)

CHINGFORD maintained the pressure on the top two after securing a win over a Welwyn side currently fighting for their lives.

On a cold a blustery day in Hertfordshire, Chingford rested a few players choosing instead to give youngster such as John Hollis a run out.

With the referee making interesting decisions for both sides, a game that on paper looked easy to Chingford was beginning to look a possible banana skin.

Kicking sensation Tobias de Klerk settled the nerves of the visitors by slotting over two penalties to get the scoreboard moving.

Welwyn kicked a penalty to reduce the deficit, before the Waltham Wayers scored the first try of the day.

A sweeping move ended with Neil Carlsson crashing his way through some weak tackling to touch down right in the corner.

De Klerk failed with the conversion, before the hosts added another penalty to leave it 6-11 at the break.

Welwyn came out fired up after the restart, and with Ollie Hoad sent to the sinbin made the most of their extra man.

As Chingford messed around with the ball close to their line, the hosts pounced to score a converted try to make it 13-11.

The east Londoners were soon back in front when De Klerk kicked another penalty.

Chingford's second try of the day fell to the reborn Guy Gavan who burrowed his way through the Welwyn pack after a strong line-out by Burnage.

De Klerk added the conversion, before kicking a further penalty to make sure of the points for the visitors.

Coach Stefan Smith said: "It was an uninspiring win, but a tough victory that we still needed to engineer.

"The boys are showing good character and the most pleasing aspect is they are learning to win tough."