A cold Saturday saw the 2s take on 3rd-place West London RFC, who turned up two men short but clearly not short on effort. On paper, it looked straightforward. In reality, anything but.

From the first whistle, it was clear we weren’t quite at the level we’ve set for ourselves this season. The rhythm never really clicked, and the game became a grind from start to finish. Despite that, the lads still found their way over the whitewash four times — Kai Patrick, Ollie Goff, Louis Haskell, and Dan Clouter all grabbing tries, with two converted by Goffy.

West London, to their credit, refused to roll over. They clawed their way back into it and had the momentum for much of the last twenty, helped by a flurry of three yellow cards for Twickenham and a penalty try that made for a nervy finish. The boys dug in, though, and managed to close out a scrappy 24–19 win.

Definitely not one for the highlight reel, an ugly win if ever there was one, but seven points is seven points, and the table doesn’t care how you get them! To quote Dan C; "there are no match photos on the league table".

Man of the Match: West London opted for Oscar Jansen – solid throughout and looked dangerous on the ball. With Oscar having already shot off, Matt Cockers took the MOTM chair on his behalf… and delivered a much more convincing win in the boat race than we managed on the pitch!

DOTD: Shared honours for Matt Clouter, Louis Haskell, and Jamie Jones — the yellow-card trio who collectively did their best to keep things interesting. Haskell stepping up to take on a pint of the black stuff for the lads!

It says a lot about how far this squad has come that we walk away from a bonus-point win feeling disappointed. Standards are high, and that’s exactly how it should be. Next up, the biggest challenge yet: top-of-the-table Ealing at Parkfields. Time to raise it again.