Despite outscoring their opponents by five tries to four, Welwyn fell an agonising one point short in a gallant fight back in the final quarter of the match. Despite this, they did not leave empty handed, having secured two valuable bonus points, which leaves them second in the league, four points behind leaders Grasshoppers and four points clear of Verulamians.

The first half was evenly contested with the visitors turning round with a narrow lead of 13-15. Welwyn started the match strongly and were ahead after 4 minutes. Yourgos Alexander took a trademark tapped penalty from 30 metres out and Dan Atkinson ran a good line to take the pass in space and race over to touch down. Three minutes later, Old Streetonians narrowed the gap with a penalty for offside in front of the posts which was comfortably converted by their experienced fly half, who had a fine match. On 15 minutes, a Welwyn front row infringement in a scrum produced a further three points for the home team. On 20 minutes Streetonians controlled the ball over several phases and eventually their scrum half darted over from very close range to score under the posts. The successful conversion extended Streetonians’ lead to 13 points to 5.

The wide, flat pitch looked ideally suited for Welwyn’s pacey backs, but it was not until the final part of the first half that Welwyn started to punch holes at close quarters to create space out wide. One such move provided Josh Milton with the space to release the returning Adam Harcourt, who scored with 26 minutes on the clock. Welwyn finished the half strongly and Rory Harcourt was deemed to have been just short when stretching for the line. From the resulting scrum, Streetonians were penalised and Rob Picken took a quick tapped penalty from 5m out. A retiring Streetonian player knocked the ball out of his hands from an offside position and received a yellow card for his troubles. A penalty was awarded when a penalty try might have been justified but Welwyn elected to scrum and Picken controlled the ball well to touch down for a pushover try. Welwyn led 13-15 at half time.

Coach Ian Ewin used his bench well throughout the match with Dan Comben, Dan Webb and Dave Francis all getting valuable game time. However, Welwyn made a slow start to the second half and conceded three tries within 13 minutes and suddenly found themselves 30-15 behind. To add to their troubles Harry Di Leito received a nasty blow to the jaw and Josh Milton once again had to move into the centre. Many sides would have thrown in the towel, but this Welwyn team is made of sterner stuff. On 18 minutes Skipper Will Freeston released Harry Gillespie who sprinted around the cover defence to score under the posts. Rory Harcourt converted. Seven minutes later, Welwyn scored the try of the match. From a scrum, centre Aaron Chandler finally found some space in the Streetonians defence and released Rory Harcourt. Dave Francis ran an excellent support line to receive a well-timed offload from Harcourt to score under the posts. The successful conversion brought the score to 30-29 and the match was set up for thrilling final 15 minutes. Try as they might, however, Welwyn were unable to apply the killer touch and Streetonians hung on in a thrilling end to the game.