Harpenden fell to a third successive defeat with a 20-12 defeat at Sudbury – but it was another battle that could have gone either way.

Harpenden initially held the territorial advantage but were unable to capitalise as they made a number of handling errors and struggled to win their line-out ball.

They did a shot at the posts during this period but the kick drifted wide.

Play then ebbed and flowed before and a penalty and unconverted try gave Sudbury an 8-0 half-time lead.

Shortly after the restart Harpenden finally got through the home defence with centre Jimmy Speirs breaking the line before Matt Jillians crossed two quick passes later.

Sudbury extended their lead to 10 before Matt Deane evaded a host of defenders to score under the posts, giving himself the easy conversion.

But with the game in the balance a breakaway third try for the home side gave them the win and left Harpenden with nothing to show for their efforts.