West London 13 Finchley 26

London League Division Three (North-West)

Several of Finchley's key players returned following injury and it showed as they routed their West London hosts.

The visitors made an explosive start with a try by winger Charlie Curtis. It followed a blindside break by scrum-half James Webb, with Al James and Nash Cohen involved, before Kieran Parker gave the pass for Curtis to dive over.

Another try by Finchley's man of the match, second row Peter Cotton, and an exchange of two penalties for both sides saw Finchley lead 18-6 at half-time.

A penalty try by West London made the score a little too close for Finchley's comfort.

However, the forwards stepped up a gear, and veteran hooker Mark Peplow, assisted by prop Slim Linden, went over for a superb catch-and-drive late try to secure the points that revived Finchey's promotion hopes.

On Saturday, Finchley are home to high-fliers Ealing (2.30pm).

Finchley Hawks have a 75th anniversary dinner on Friday, organised by Joe Aggar and John Devlin, at Summers Lane.