After the disappointment of the previous week, Fullerians found that fire in the belly to earn a deserved first London League Two North West win of the season with an 18-13 victory at Tabard.

Fullers started brightly in the autumnal sunshine and the early exchanges looked very promising for the visitors. That early pressure was rewarded as Tabard were caught off side and Nick Heley stepped up and slotted the penalty for a 3-0 lead.

With the scrum working well, a platform was set for the young backs to unleash their pace. Winger Jack Thompson used his quick feet to fool the covering defence, only to be brought down by a high tackle. The subsequent penalty caught the home side napping and with a cheeky cross kick, winger Sam Morley, growing in confidence, was on hand to scoop up the ball and score in the corner.

Morley and Thompson then combined well to penetrate the Tabard defence. However, the move stuttered as a lack of support or infringements by Fullers cost them great field position.

Tabard got back into the game with a good catch and drive from the line out. Fullers were caught off side and the penalty was converted by Harry Gough. They scored a fine try shortly after, again from the lineout, when the Fullers forwards were caught flat-footed and the ball was spun out quickly to stand-off Tryfan Edwards, who powered through the cover defence to score.

Fullers started the second half well and put themselves into good field position. Unfortunately for them, the last pass went astray or ill-discipline cost the visitors dearly as they were penalised at critical times.

Eventually the breakthrough came when fly-half Dan Evans made half a break and found skipper Jamie Molloy on his shoulder to score. Heley added the extras for an 18-8 lead.

Fullerians seem to have the game under control for most of the second half and put pressure on a tiring Tabard defence. However, once again, Fullerians put themselves into difficulty with silly penalties at the break down and being offside frequently.

It was Tabard who took advantage of these penalties as they were rewarded with a try from prop Wilf Lake after some simple pick and drives from the ruck earned the hosts a bonus losing point.

“We were up for the game right from the start and were much more physical and deserved our win,” said skipper Molloy.

“We went asleep midway through the game and our penalty count was too high on Saturday, which we will work on this week in training.

“We have guys coming back from injury to bolster our squad this week which will make for difficult selection decisions for our next game.”

Fullerians: Bushell (Greenan 60), Horne, Wetton, Molloy, Brimson (Hunt 50), Goode, Longhurst, Kerr, Sherriff, Evans, Thompson, Bland, Smith, Morley (Duncan 60), Heley.