Rich Hoskins warned his side “we haven’t won anything yet,” as Fullerians took a massive stride towards winning the London Two North West title by beating morning leaders Hammersmith and Fulham to overtake them at the summit.

The Watford-based outfit edged a nerve-jangling clash 24-23 on Saturday and now lead the table by three points going into the home straight.

Head coach Hoskins said: “It was a massive win for us but we haven’t won the league yet. I would say we’ve got one foot over the line but we have to get the other one over as well before we can start celebrating.”

His men, who have three left to play including a crucial game in hand, are clear favourites and the demeanour of the beaten Hammersmith and Fulham players at the final whistle suggested they have already conceded the title.

But Hoskins is not fooled.

He said: “Some of that might be mind games. We certainly know it is not job done yet. We’ve got three cup finals to go and if we win those games we win the league. It’s in our hands but we’ve got a tough game at Hampstead next. They will want to beat the side who are top of the league.”

With that clash in mind, Fullers intend to rest several men for tomorrow's Herts Tankard Cup semi-final clash against Datchworth, as Hoskins prioritises the title race.

He said: “I don’t want to risk picking up any injuries and the second team have done well this season [winning promotion from Hertfordshire and Middlesex Merit Table 2].”

With the league title and a guaranteed promotion so close, the caution is understandable. Last week’s knockout clash could have gone either way and it was Fullers who were hanging on at the end.

Hoskins said: “For 60 minutes we played some very good tactical rugby. We played in the right areas and carried out the instructions but it was Hammersmith and Fulham who had the momentum at the end. We got a little bit lucky because they had a try disallowed. It was a tense last 20 minutes. We survived and got away with a few things. We could have and perhaps should have lost that game but we had that little bit of luck that we haven’t had too often this season.”

His side were hanging on as the visitors, who really needed to win, chucked everything but the kitchen sink at them in a contest that went right down to the wire before Fullers could gain revenge for December’s defeat in London and celebrate a nerve-shredding victory.

Luke Jacobs might have thought he had kicked any early nerves away when he booted Fullerians into an early 3-0 lead.

But Hammersmith & Fulham responded from a lineout on halfway to trigger a move which ended with their winger touching down in the corner to take the lead. Fortunately for the hosts, the conversion was missed and Jacobs booted Fullerians back in front.

Both teams traded penalties before the visitors scored their second try of the afternoon but again the damage to Fullers was limited as the conversion attempt was missed.

Jacobs didn’t make the same mistake when the chance was offered to him though. He kicked the extras to make it 16-13 in Fullers’ favour after Craig Duncan stepped past numerous defenders to touch the ball down beneath the posts.

Fullerians could not keep the lead though, and the visitors tied things up at the break with a penalty.

The second half was just as tight. Fullerians regained the lead when Hammersmith fumbled a catch and captain Mike Kerr burst through and offloaded inside to Liam Boyd who crashed over the line.

This time though, Fullers could not add the conversion, and Hammersmith knew they had no choice but to pile on the pressure and go all-out for the win.

Their relentless pressure paid off when their winger took advantage of the room he was given to finish in the corner. This time the conversion, from the touchline, was taken to give the West Londoners a two-point advantage.

The lead was wiped out though when they conceded a penalty which Duncan calmly scored between the posts to give Fullers a slender one-point advantage.

It looked an extremely fragile lead as Hammersmith and Fulham upped the ante and went for broke in the final ten minutes in a colossal effort that saw them cross the line once only to have the try disallowed as Fullers held on.

Fullerians’ second team secured promotion from Hertfordshire and Middlesex Merit Table 2 with a 39-7 win against Enfield Ignations with Phil Holby, Simon Wall, Malcolm Harrison, Kristian Williams, Henry Harvie, Harry Benjamin and Charlie Dollard scoring.