Skipper Oli Lacey says it is all about points gained at this stage of the season as Harpenden powered their way to a 52-13 victory at Welwyn.

That five-point haul was enough to keep them in their second place at the top of London Two North West as they, Belsize Park and Chiswick battled for the promotion places.

One goes up automatically while the second will face a play-off game with the second placed team in London Two North East and but seven games still to go for Harps, Lacey just wants to see his side picking up as many points as possible.

He said: “It was a close first half, they battled really well and we made a few errors.

“But we kept our composure in the second half and had a bit more cutting edge that allowed us to run away with it.

“I’m really happy with the five points and we’ll push on to the next game.

“It’s nice to get the bonus point as it may come down to that at the end of the year.

“It’s quite close at the top and every point will matter.

“We’ll be targeting the games against Belsize Park and Chiswick but points are points.

“Every single game is important and we can’t afford to drop points anywhere if we want to finish at the top.”

Four of those remaining games are at their Redbourn Lane base and with its new artificial surface, laid during the summer, that could prove crucial.

“We’re really loving it and it really suits our style of rugby,” said Lacey.

“It’s allowed us to keep our style of running rugby up right until winter.”

Saturday’s win was close up until a try on the stroke of half-time by Michael Goode.

Either side of it though there was a brace for Adam Wilkinson and Tagon Strydom plus one for Tom Sweeney, who also kicked four conversions, and a penalty try on the very last play.

New boy Strydom impressed with his strong running and clever angles and Lacey says he has been a valuable acquisition.

He said: “They were his first tries of the year. He’s a really good addition and it’s nice for him to get off the mark.

“We had a few injuries at the start of the year so we haven’t had the back line we ended the year with but they are coming back now and we’re ready to start firing for the end of the season.”