Welwyn thrust themselves firmly into the London Three North West promotion race with a superb win away to rivals Hitchin.

The 29-21 success lifts them up to third at the half-way point, one point behind second-placed Finchley and a further two adrift of leaders Hendon.

They got on the scoreboard early, Liam Scofield releasing Joe Nasaucoko after seven minutes for an unconverted try.

Hitchin drew level after a period of sustained pressure through Ciaran Sale but Welwyn responded with two unanswered tries.

Vetaia Kawea, playing his first game back since becoming a proud father, showed the Welwyn faithful what they have been missing as he burst through the Hitchin defence for the first before props Jed Hunter and Dan Comben combined for the latter, along with Chris Kemp's conversion, to give them a 17-5 lead.

Hitchin crucially managed one try before the break from Jimmy McCormack and they would stun Welwyn by adding a Ben Wiggins penalty after the break before Ian Crompton's try gave them the lead.

It would be the only time they had the advantage though and with Welwyn sending Joe Burns, Jack Cotterell and Chris Sloan into the mix to freshen things up, the visitors soon hit back.

They moved the ball right and Kemp dummied over to score and although Will Evans kicked a penalty for the hosts, Welwyn clinched the contest with 10 minutes to go.

After two carries by Burns, Scofield fought his way over to score next to the posts and Kemp’s successful conversion crucially put Welwyn two scores ahead.

Hitchin declined a couple of penalty opportunities as they went in search of another try but Welwyn held their nerve to see out the remaining time without conceding.

Head coach Gareth Hughes said: "I was very pleased with the way that we took our chances and then closed the game out in the last 10 minutes.

"Hitchin are a strong side, particularly at home, and this was an excellent result for our lads."

Welwyn now have a break in their league programme, resuming with a difficult trip to Finchley on January 8.

Datchworth do have one game left before Christmas when they take on Letchworth on Saturday.

That followed a 51-0 loss at Fullerians in London Two North West.