After a run of 15 straight defeats from the start of the season, Epping Upper Clapton finally got off the mark on Saturday in London 2 North East, securing their first win of the season in a 36-12 success against second-bottom Holt.

First-half tries from Alfie Reynolds, Luke Neat and John Robinson had Clapton 17-12 in front at the break, while a second half brace from George Douglass and a further try from George Cook rounded off a deserved win.

Holt were the first out of the blocks and took the lead early on, but Clapton battled through the driving wind and rain to score three tries before the end of the half, the first two finished out wide by Reynolds and Neat before a rampaging run from Robinson resulted in the third.

The visitors managed one more try before the break, however, to set up an interesting second half.

Clapton now had the elements in their favour though, and their constant pressure was opening up space for them to exploit, and they did so through further tries from Douglass and Cook.

Douglass added three conversions across the game to make it a final score of 36-12 in Clapton’s favour and take their points tally to seven.

While this still keeps them rooted firmly to the bottom of the table ahead of this week’s game away at Saffron Walden, there is now a belief that they can finish the season strongly.