Actonians made the short journey up the A40 to local rivals Northolt, hoping to continue their good form after a hard fought victory against Finsbury Park the previous weekend. The game was a clash of styles with Northolt threatening through their strong forward pack and Actonians looking to whip the ball out quickly to their pacy backline.
Actonians defended well during the first half, putting pressure on the Northolt carriers and looking threatening from turnovers and in open play, but struggled to break the deadlock with final passes not quite going to hand. Their most composed passage of play resulted in the opening try, with the forwards working the ball through several phases in the Northolt 22 to manufacture the space out wide for full-back Ethan Moore to crash over. An excellent conversion from Declan Bambrick was followed-up by a penalty kick a few minutes later, leaving Actonians with a ten point lead at half-time.
The first score in the second half would be crucial, so Actonians looked to speed up the game after the break. A penalty on the halfway line gave the opportunity to do just that, with a quick tap leading to a line break and Alex Debacker on hand in support to dot down under the posts.
Northolt then turned up the intensity with a period of sustained pressure from their strong carriers winning territory and a series of penalties. This left them camped in the Actonians 22, where the pressure told and they eventually bulldozed over from short range to take the score to 7-17.
As the second half wore on the game opened up, with tiredness and a yellow card for a Northolt high tackle creating gaps and opportunities from open play. Tom Wilkins was the beneficiary, with the second row gathering the ball in space and having the pace to steam in from 25 yards out to seal a man of the match performance. Chris Maillard rounded out the scoring, fending his opposite number on the right wing, and leaving the final score at Northolt 7 - 29 Actonians.
Another great result for the 2s, with strong debut performances on the wing from newcomers Akil Julien-Watson and Matt Kaczmarczyk.

Match report excellently provided by captain Andy Perch