Hampstead put in a dogged performance to prevail in a physical match against London Scottish. The match got off to a particularly slow start as, before the whistle had already been blown, both teams turned up to find the changing rooms locked and no one home. Happily, a match-saving call by Pete Britland allowed us to get underway with minimal delay.

Hampstead had the edge in possession and territory during the opening twenty minutes but, spurring penalties in favour of the corner flag, failed to make an impression on the score line. However, good territorial play and uncompromising defence continued to pin Scottish back. Finally, an immaculate set-piece move from the halfway line (called over the loud protests of McGoldrick) set MoM James Evans away up the right wing. Although he was barely hauled down in front of the try line, he popped off the floor to Craigen who offloaded to the onrushing Pete Britland for a much-deserved unconverted score.

Scottish responded soon after, their second row exploiting one of only three line breaks in the whole match to show surprising pace and score under the posts. Down in the match having dominated thus far, Hampstead refused to let their heads drop or compromise their game plan. Scottish were pinned back with the boot and more strong defence yielded a penalty which Craigen duly slotted.

The second half continued in the same vein as the first; defence dominated as both team attempted to outmuscle the other. Although Scottish had the lion’s share of possession and camped on Hampstead’s 22, the home team simply refused to concede. Finally, compromising on a Scottish defence, Hampstead marched up field, and a killer line from captain Ed Moores brought them to within five meters of the Scottish line.

What followed was quite simply epic; a twenty phase period of possession in which Hampstead spread the ball from left to right, with runners battering the Scottish line. When they came back across the field, Matt Milles was on hand to power through three defenders and over for another unconverted score.

Although Hampstead neatly cleared their lines from the kick off, Scottish once again marched towards their try line. Several times Hampstead were stretched to breaking point trying to hold back the Scottish tide, with one three man overlap being shut down by a thumping tackle from Evans. The forwards in this period were immense, putting in tackle after tackle until Scottish finally coughed the ball up. Evans hoofed it down field and Simon Brown, chasing as if he was fresh into the match, capitalised to score; a fitting reward for him and his back row colleagues. Craigen converted to put the match to bed.

Although there was ten minutes left, the fight was out of Scottish and Hampstead were able to close out the match. I fine performance from one to fifteen against a very good opposition, Hampstead now go second in the league and another win before Christmas would put them in a strong position to make the play-offs in April.

MoM: Evans for creating two tries and shutting down another; a great return from injury.

DoD: Peter Kulik for refusing to play for the 4s.