A stirring last five minutes will offer some comfort to injury-ravaged Welwyn after their 53-21 loss to Chiswick.

The Londoners had arrived at Hobbs Way unbeaten in London Two North West with three wins and a draw and their victory keeps them second in the table, two points behind leaders London Welsh.

Welwyn remained stuck to the foot of the division with just one draw to show for their efforts in the opening five games.

They haven't been helped by a lengthy injury list that has plagued them since pre-season and yet the character shown, especially in the closing stages, shows that those who have had to step up to the plate still have the appetite for the fight.

Their first try came through replacement prop Dan Atkinson, who showed good pace from 20 metres out to finish off a lovely move and score under the posts.

Fly-half Ben Osgood converted and he did so almost immediately after as Welwyn took the game back into Chiswick territory form the kick-off, from where flanker Ollie Di Lieto received the scoring pass to race over and score.

He was at it again within a minute, scoring again in remarkably similar circumstances with Osgood finishing the game with the extra two points.

It was therefore unfortunate that this purple patch came way too late to affect the result.

They had kept it fairly tight in a well-matched first half but Chiswick had still managed to score two tries for a 12-0 lead at the break.

Welwyn could have made inroads just before half-time when the visitors were reduced to 13 men courtesy of two yellow cards.

But they managed to weather that 10-minute period, during which the scrums had gone uncontested, and once they were back up to a full complement they turned on the style with six unanswered tries in 30 minutes.

Some of their rugby was irresistible with excellent support play and befitting a side near the top of the division but Welwyn did lend them a hand with one or two missed tackles.

The finish though is what they will cling to and they will be hopeful of having a full squad to pick from before too long.

Welwyn face another potentially difficult fixture on Saturday when they travel to Hammersmith & Fulham, who are fourth in the league.