St Albans have made a bright start to their pre-season programme ahead of the new London Three North West campaign.

They began at London Two North East new boys Wanstead, in which both sides scored four tries.

St Albans rallied after a rusty start thanks to a fine team effort, with Pat Falvey taking the defensive lead and Matt Scandlant adding finesse in attack.

New Zealander Matt Scandlant and man of the match Will Batchelor also impressed, but Wanstead scored twice in the last 10 minutes to win it 24-22.

Thursday night’s floodlit game saw St Albans romp to an 87-12 win over Watford, as Ollie Fountain ran in five tries and Adam Jasinski a hat-trick, and forwards coach Harry Casson said: “I’m really happy we’ve started our home season with a win.”

Director of rugby Ian Peel added: “We played with a bit of width and made the ball do the work. We look forward to Stockwood Park next.”