London Colney picked up three points on Saturday as they beat Hillingdon Borough 2-1 at Cotlandswick.

First-half goals from Tom Smith and Matt Newman were enough for the Blueboys to see off a spirited fightback from the visitors.

Early in the match the visitors had the first real chance of the game with a Tom Kirk shot being pushed away by Charlie May.

On 15 minutes, after play had quickly switched from end to end, the Blueboys took the lead when a corner from Jimmy Hartley saw Trevor Stevens header hit the underside of the crossbar and bounce down on the line and out but Smith was on hand to turn the ball into the net,

Next Ben Hammond played a long ball forward for Newman to run onto but Matthew Faley, the Hillingdon keeper, got there just before the Blueboys’ striker to clear the danger.

Then Spencer Clarke-Mardel nodded on a forward pass for Newman to get a shot away but it went just over the crossbar.

In the 32nd minute London Colney went 2-0 up when Ben Hammond blocked an attempted clearance and the ball ran kindly for him to run down the left wing and, with plenty of space, he squared the ball across the box for Newman to drive the ball past Faley from 10 yards.

Hillingdon tried to hit back and a free-kick from Jimmy Froud saw May pull off a smart save low down to his left. At the other end Jimmy Hartley, who once again made some fine runs into the box, got to the goal-line and pulled the ball back but no one put the chance away.

Just before the break James Bundey and Hartley combined to setup Newman but Gary Edwards got there just in time to clear the ball for a corner kick.

A few minutes into the second half Hartley floated in a free-kick which dropped kindly for Newman inside the box but his shot lacked power and was blocked by Faley on the line and the ball was hacked clear.

For Hillingdon, Froud pulled a goal back for them in the 66th minute when he headed the ball home at the back post following a pin-point cross from the right by Benjamin Dunklin.

Froud also fired in a shot that went just wide of May’s left hand post and Hillingdon then had a effort from Tom Kirk cleared off the line by Smith as they pressed forward in search of an equaliser.

The Blueboys back line of Armstrong, Lawrence, Murphy and Smith held firm as Hillingdon went in search of another goal.

For the Blueboys, Matt Newman saw the ball taken of his toes just as he was going to pull the trigger after a good pass to him inside the box from Bobby Armstrong.

Then Trevor Stevens had two efforts on goal, one of which went well wide and then the other flew just over the crossbar. Despite not finding a third goal, London Colney held out for the win.