Fullerians put in a battling display to come away with a hugely satisfying 27-17 win over Saffron Walden.

Having lost 72-48 in the reverse fixture earlier in the season, Fullers came into the game looking for revenge against their London One North opponents.

They took control in the opening stages after George Harvey broke off the back of a scrum and touched down before Dan Evans added the extras.

Fullers controlled much of the possession and built up the phases again to allow Shaun Smith to crash over.

A further conversion from Evans put Fullers in the driving seat heading into a break, but a yellow card for Adam Acker gave Saffron a lift.

They struggled to breach a stubborn Fullers defence and had only a penalty to their name at the break.

Fullers were awarded a penalty and Saffron temporarily reduced to 14 early in the second half giving them full control, and Craig Duncan’s fine individual try handed them a 24-3 lead.

Despite their dominance, a second sin-bin for Acker allowed the visitors to mount a comeback.

Two tries without reply took the scores to 24-17 and ensured a nervy close to the game, but Fullers held on for a valuable win. The victory, which ended a run of three defeats in a row, leaves Fullers 11th in the table ahead of a meeting with North Walsham tomorrow.

The match promises to provide a stern test for Fullers as they seek a positive result against a side occupying fourth position in the table.

Elsewhere, a commanding display saw Tabard ease to a 20-5 victory over Hammersmith.

Both sides committed to playing an open running game but the hosts’ greater ruthlessness would ensure they came out on top.

Jack Reilly got the ball rolling with a penalty from 25 metres with 12 minutes on the clock.

A 15-minute spell of dominance led to the first try of the day when Tabard set up excellent field position and capitalised to full effect.

Again Reilly was involved driving towards the line, only to be denied five metres out.

Scrum-half Harry Gough followed up smartly and was on hand to touch down before Reilly kicked the conversion to make it 10-0 at the break.

The Tabard man was enjoying himself and a drop goal 10 minutes after the restart kept the score ticking over.

Reilly’s influence grew further still when he produced a perfect cross-field kick to allow Neil Hopcroft to score in the corner.

A successful conversion took the lead to 20-0 and a late Hammersmith score could do little to take the shine off an impressive Tabard display.

The London Two North West Side will look to build on the positive result when they take on high-flying H.A.C. tomorrow.

Their hosts are firmly embroiled in the title race and sit just two points behind league leaders Old Haberdashers after winning 32-7 against Welwyn on Saturday.