Unbeaten Stevenage came to Twickenham as league leaders and left with their record intact, winning 22-13 in London Three North-West.

However, Twickenham put up a spirited performance in the first half despite conceding a try after 15 minutes.

Phil Astbury kicked a penalty shortly afterwards.

But some poor passing and tackling allowed the visitors backs to cut through on a number of occasions and only their own errors prevented them scoring.

The half-time score was 7-3 to the away side.

After the break, Twickenham allowed the Stevenage centre too much room and he scorched through for a try.

This was answered by another Astbury penalty, the advantage of which was almost immediately given away when Stevenage were themselves awarded a penalty for Twickenham going over in a ruck.

Ts were losing too much of their own lineout ball, which denied their backs the chance to attack, and before long they again allowed the Stevenage number 13 space to score.

A late rally by Twickenham saw back-row Dougie Stewart go over for what was to be a consolation try, nicely converted by Astbury.

It was unfortunate that positional changes in the backs had to be made before the game but Twickenham cannot complain at this defeat against the league leaders.