Hendon finished the first stage of their Herts/Middlesex Division Two campaign with a 22-12 home win over Thamesians, leaving them third in the table as the league splits into two sections.

The top six teams will now break away to form a mini-league, with the table being recalculated so that only their results against each other will count.

The Dons are expected to remain third after the standings are updated, and the top two teams will be promoted.

Hendon fell behind midway through the first half on Saturday as an intercepted pass allowed a Thamesians winger to race away and open the scoring against the run of play.

However, Paul Geraghty forced his way over the line from a maul following a line-out, and Mike Evans-Jones added the extras before intercepting a pass himself, crossing the whitewash and kicking another conversion.

That put Hendon 17-5 up at the break and another maul from a line-out resulted in a try for hooker Chris Towndrow, although the Dons’ ambition in attempting to grab a bonus point backfired as they conceded before the end.