St Albans Rugby Club made it three wins from four in 2016 with this 12-10 success at Old Actonians.

Pete Hissey and Fraser Morris scored the tries in a closely-fought game that lift Saints up to sixth in the London North West Three.

The home side showed their intent from the outset by trying to move the ball wide at every opportunity and feed their strong running three-quarters.

Saints countered this with resolute defence, and despite Actonians pressure they could not convert this into points.

As the game progressed the St Albans’ forwards began to establish a platform with the front row of Jones, Mason and Martin making their presence felt, helping move the game up field and force Actonians to defend in earnest.

There were numerous penalty awards, and Saints profited from one such instance, Hissey’s quick thinking allowing him to dart over the Actonians line whilst the home side was in the process of regrouping.

Mark Kentish added the conversion and soon after half-time St Albans went further ahead.

Again strong forward play forced the home side close to their own line and from a driving maul Morris crashed over.

Actonians lifted their game and were rewarded with a penalty to close the gap.

The score gave them even more inspiration but again St Albans responded with uncompromising defence.

Saints did have chances to wrap the game up but poor handling let them down at the vital moment and that looked as if it could come back to haunt them with a converted score.

However, the Saints defensive blanket, as it had done all game, held firm to secure the win.

Local rivals Hemel Hempstead are next up for St Albans, with a 2pm kick-off at Boggymead.