London 2 North West: Grasshoppers 18-5 Luton

Travelling to third placed Grasshoppers without several first team regulars, Luton went down 18-5.

But with a weekend fixture break ahead, Luton RFC first team manager Steve 'Taff' Evans remained upbeat: “We are still searching for our first win of the season, but it is definitely coming.

“Each week, we are taking steps forward. The players showed the discipline which has been asked of them.

“Handling let us down yesterday, with lots of mistakes keeping us off the scoreboard when we should have been securing the points.

“Luke Spellen, stepping in as Captain did a great job of keeping the player's heads up. More to focus on before our next fixture.”

Luton will entertain fellow strugglers Welwyn on Saturday 19 October.

In West London, Grasshoppers welcomed Luton to Syon Lane for a first ever encounter. And it was the home side who started the game quickest and broke the deadlock after only three minutes with winger Hancock scoring for an unconverted try.

The visitors fought back as the forwards tried to make the break through but couldn’t get the final pass away.

Grasshoppers added a penalty to make the half-time score 8-0.

In the second period Luton kept the game tight until the host’s number eight broke free with an interception on the halfway line to slide under the posts. The conversion taking the score to 15-0.

The final phase of the game saw Luton continue to throw everything at Grasshoppers which eventually paid off as Matt Yang drove over at the lineout.

But the home side had the final word with a converted penalty to make the final score 18-5.