An injury-hit Tabard came up short against Harpenden on Saturday as they suffered a 19-7 defeat in their London Two North West London and SE Division clash.

The hosts struggled to contain a Harpenden backline which was full of pace as their fly-half set the tone from the outset.

Nonetheless, Tabard almost claimed the first score of the day when the bounce of the ball deceived Jack Reilly after a cross-field kick.

Indiscipline at the breakdown repeatedly cost Tabard field position and they were behind after 30 minutes as Harpenden went over under the posts.

Tabard were left feeling hard done by five minutes later when they claimed Harpenden went unpunished for not retreating at a free-kick.

They took full advantage of the resulting phase of play to score their second of the game before the conversion was successfully kicked to give them a 14-0 cushion, which they would build on before the break.

Again their fly-half was at the heart of things and sent a kick out wide to allow his side to score in the corner.

At 19-0 Tabard were facing a daunting task to get back into the game but rallied well to produce a better second half display.

They pressurised the Harpenden defence and were rewarded when Reilly burst over the line from close range to give Tabard hope.

For all their effort, they failed to pose enough questions to the Harpenden defence and ran out of time to mount a serious comeback.

The result sees Harpenden move three points clear of Tabard who drop to 10th in the table after 11 games.

They entertain Harrow on Saturday knowing that a win could see them move up to as high as sixth.

Harrow head into the match on the back of a 18-11 loss to fellow mid-table side London Nigerian.