London 2 North West: Luton v Datchworth

The Christmas break obviously worked wonders for the 'Red and Greens' who came out and dominated the first half, matched a determined Datchworth side in the second and held on to win 20-17.

Two tries from Aidan Kenny, one from Joe Curtis and a conversion and a crucial penalty goal from Ollie Haynes in the first period gave Luton the cushion they needed to hold off a three-try Datchworth and record their first win since Oct 2019.

And the improvement was there to be seen from the kick-off. Luton pressured the visitor's line and Kenny darted over from short range after 5 minutes. However they were soon pegged back, conceding a try to the visitors.

But back came Luton and a clever chip behind the defence from Hamm saw Kenny gather and score again.

Further controlled play lead to a line-out and from the resulting maul Curtis went over. Then with minutes remaining in the half Haynes added a long range penalty goal to add to an earlier conversion.

So going into the second period were Luton going to kick-on or hang-on?

Datchworth came back with two further tries but although their backs threatened much the home side, with a great defensive effort, hung-on.

But it was the nature of the performance that had the Newlands crowd buzzing after the game. Coaches Yang, Kenny and Hamm had clearly got the team together and hit the reset button. The 2019 version was disjointed, aimless and over ambitious, the 2020 team had drive, discipline and played simple rugby so that Luton played to their strengths.

Luton made Datchworth earn all their points. No silly penalties leading to conceded points or players going to the bin. No trying to run the ball from the 22, their lines were cleared with kicks. Everyone put in a shift: it would have been hard to pick a man of the match.

Team manager Steve'Taffy' Evans said: "It was an exceptional first half with the boys looking fully in command of the match.

"My nerves were shredded for the last 20 mins but I'm incredibly proud of the tenacity they showed to hold on for the win."

Luton travel to league leaders London Welsh next Saturday.