London Scottish secured another four points to maintain second place in National League One following a dour, forward-dominated match against a strong Stourbridge pack at the Athletic Ground yesterday. Thankfully, the wind and rain that had battered the South East during the week abated, allowing for decent, if overcast, conditions for the match.

The Black Country outfit have more experience than anyone else of playing at this level – they are in their ninth successive season in the third tier of English rugby, and in the two decades since the National League system was introduced, have switched divisions only once, when they secured promotion from National League 2 North in 2001.

London Scottish 11 - Redruth 10

Full-back Frankie Neale celebrated receiving a Barbarians call-up this week by putting a late penalty over to give London Scottish victory over Redruth at the Recreation Ground yesterday. Those three vital points put the visitors in front for the first time in a match during which they had trailed 10-0, and keep the side second in National League 1. With closest league rivals Wharfedale and Cambridge both losing, the latter to leaders Esher who maintain their five-point gap at the top of the table, there are now six points between Scottish and the chasing pack.

DEFEAT GIVES LONDON SCOTTISH THE CAMBRIDGE BLUES 
Cambridge 38 London Scottish 26

London Scottish, unbeaten in the league last season, slid to defeat against Cambridge at Granchester Road yesterday after a match which the home side largely dominated.
The hosts narrowly missed out on winning a place in the Championship last year – indeed, under the rules in force at the start of the season, prior to the changes enforced by the RFU, they would have achieved promotion – and it was clear that with title ambitions this year, they would provide the National 3 South champions with a stiff challenge.

London Scottish got their 2009/10 National League 1 campaign off to a winning start with a well-deserved 35-16 victory over Sedgley Park at the Athletic Ground, running in five tries to claim maximum points.

Dings Crusaders 16, London Scottish 18

A late penalty kick from Scott Hadden salvaged victory for London Scottish to maintain the side’s unbeaten league record after a closely fought match against Dings Crusaders at Landseer Avenue in Bristol.

Rosslyn Park 7, London Scottish 18

Simon Amor was the star of the show as league leaders London Scottish ran out 18-7 victors against third-placed Rosslyn Park following a bruising encounter at The Rock, orchestrating a strong first-half performance from his usual position of scrum-half, then switching to fly-half after a heavy collision with an opposing player resulted in James Brown being knocked out just before the interval.