Rugby round-up: Hampstead beat the weather but lose the match

London Division 2 North-West: Chiswick 41 Hampstead 13

Hampstead suffered a disappointing defeat on the road after a poor performance at Chiswick on Saturday.

The match was the only one in the division to survive the wintry weather, but fourth-placed Hampstead were unable to take advantage as they were soundly beaten by their sixth-placed hosts.

The pitch was in fantastic condition despite the snow that had fallen, and the visitors started brightly, dominating the first 10 minutes.

However, they were unable to finish off a number of chances following good build up-play, and their only reward came courtesy of Morgan Clement’s penalty kick, which established a 3-0 lead in the 15th minute.

Unfortunately, that was virtually the last time Hampstead touched the ball in the first half, and missed tackles allowed Chiswick to maintain possession for long periods.

The home side capitalised on woeful defending to score three tries before the break and, although Hampstead were given a lucky penalty – which Clement converted – they went into the interval 21-6 down.

Again, Hampstead began well after the restart and a solo try from winger Phil Carr raised hopes that a come-back might be on the cards.

Clement continued his 100 per cent success rate with the boot, cutting the deficit to 21-13.

However, Hampstead failed to learn from their defensive frailties in the first half and Chiswick scored two unanswered tries – the more costly of them coming from an intercepted pass when Hampstead were just five metres from the opposition’s try-line.

That took all of the wind out of Hampstead’s sails and they offered nothing for the remainder of the game en route to a heavy 41-13 defeat.

Elsewhere, Belsize Park narrowly overcame London Welsh Amateurs 27-26 at home in Herts/Middlesex 1.