Verulamians knocked off third-placed London Welsh Amateurs as they picked up their eighth straight win in Herts Middlesex 1.

Vees remain eight points clear of sixth-placed Cheshunt but have a lot of ground to make up leaders Kilburn Cross, who have 11 more points. Are they, however, just four points away from jumping up to third place.

On Saturday, as well as gunning for their eighth consecutive win, Vees were looking to avenge the 39-3 thrashing at the hands of London Welsh in the fourth game of the season. Revenge is a dish best served cold and on a mid-January day, Vees’ forwards tackled hard and kept line breaks to a minimum.

For some 30 minutes a midfield battle of attrition raged before an enlightened double substitution of David Coyle and Tom Crowne punched holes in the London Welsh defence. Three tries followed, from Coyle, Darren Westhead and Bruce Bradley, two of which were converted by Ben Russell, who added a penalty to give Vees a 22-3 half-time lead.

The second half did not live up to the pace of the first and, as the pitch conditions deteriorated, the likelihood of more points began to disappear until five minute from full-time when Sam Townsend tore through the Welsh defence from 30 metres out to end the game with a spectacular Chris Ashton-style dive over the try line.