Havant traveled to London to face an old friend from the '90s the Welsh Exiles. Old Deer Park is home to the once mighty London Welsh. The clubhouse dripped history on every wall from the famous sides of the '60s, 70s, and, '80s. Although the latest incarnation of the Welsh Dragon has had a shaky start to life at level5 they would be a stern test for the men in Blue and White hoops, who were sporting a new kit!

The team was unchanged from the previous week's win over Bournemouth, with the only changes made in the replacements. A fit again Jake Hewett in for Ben Chambers and Jez Smith replacing veteran Armandus Morgan.

The game started with Havant on the back foot and with the clock showing two minutes London Welsh had the first points of the day, a penalty kicked by the fly-half. Welsh led 3-0.

Havant did hit back straight away when Cam Smith burst through the cover and his offload to Scott Morris was perfectly timed. Scott Morris raced away and although he was caught on the line he managed to dot down, Joel Knight added the extras from a tight angle and Havant led 3-7.

Minutes later and Havant's eager backline was caught offside, another easy three points for the fly-half, 6-7.

Havant fell foul of the referee at another scrum and the resulting penalty put London Welsh in front 9-7.

Twenty minutes on the clock and Havant nearly fell further behind when the impressive Fijian center chipped and gathered the ball only to knock on in the covering tackle, a let-off for Havant.

On twenty-four minutes, Havant's rolling maul went thirty meters deep into the London Welsh 22, the ball was whisked out wide but the final killer pass was intercepted and run the entire length of the pitch for Welsh's first try of the afternoon much to the delight of the crowd. Giving them a 16-7 lead.

London Welsh went further in front on thirty minutes when the big back row went over out wide, the extra's was missed but Welsh led 21-7.

With the clock showing thirty-five minutes Havant's rolling maul worked its magic from a line-out. Richie Janes comes up with the ball after trundling over the line. Joel Knight's conversion was missed making the score 21-12.

Havant was to score the final points of the first half when the Havant forwards pressed hard just over the London Welsh 22, Ben Holt saw a gap and offloaded to Joel Knight who ghosted in under the posts the extra's was duly converted and Havant trailed 21-19.

Half-time London Welsh 21 Havant 19

The 2nd half started with Havant on the front foot, the forwards worked their way into the London Welsh 22, Cam Smith was given too much space after running a great line out on the wing and Havant led 21-24 with Forty-three minutes on the clock.

With forty-seven minutes showing, Havant was down to 14 men, Harry Carr was penalized for a deliberate knock-on. The next ten minutes saw the Welsh huff and puff at the Havant defensive line but a loose pass here and a not-so-straight line-out there, made the time fly by and Havant survived the period.

Sixty-five minutes gone and Havant was given a penalty for handbags off the ball, the resulting kick and line-out saw the rolling maul again causing havoc in the Welsh defense. It was stopped short but a couple of rucks later and Sean Shepherd smashed his way over, Joel Knight added the extras, and Havant's lead was 10 points with sixty-seven minutes gone.

The last thirteen minutes were littered with mistakes and tough defensive tackling. With the clock well into the red, and the Havant faithful looking at their watches, London Welsh made one more effort for a bonus point. The quick winger and the Fijian combined down the right wing and with the crowd in full voice willing the ball over the try line London Welsh got their try, the conversion was missed making the final score 26-31 in Havant's favour, but Welsh had their losing bonus point.

Full-time London Welsh 26 Havant 31

Will Knight's thoughts after the game.
Great to get a 5 point win on the road against a decent outfit like Welsh. I think they will cause a few teams problems as the season develops - especially at home.

We were guilty again of letting them get off to a bit of a flyer but we didn’t feel like the game was ever getting away from us.

After the game, the players felt that it was a 6/10 performance and I guess if we can get a 5-pointer playing at 60% we will take that.

We will need to be better in the coming weeks as we come into a vital stage of the season where we play all the teams above us."