Ilford Wanderers sealed a 38-12 victory against Braintree to move up to fifth in the London Three Essex table at the weekend.

The first 20 minutes saw Ilford camp in the Braintree half, coming away with a 19-0 lead.

Wanderers mobile forwards provided a constant supply of ball and, almost inevitably, the home side saw Billy Allington, Marson and Clancy going over for tries that took the game away from Braintree.

The visitors hit back with a try to make it 19-5 just before half-time after Ilford had received two yellow cards.

But Ilford, despite kicking off the second half still with only 13 players, went straight on the offensive with centre Allington going over.

Once back to full strength, Ilford kept their shape and control, and this time the forwards did the build-up work to send over hooker Ollie Bird.

Braintree showed great resilience to score again, but Ilford were bullish and substitute Jay Fagin scored another try to complete the tally.

Ilford captain Jason Taylor said: “We showed good control and discipline, despite the yellow cards, to take five points against a top-five side.”

Director of rugby Chris Smith added: “We’re really pleased our set-pieces gave us a platform to move the ball and when that happens, this is what we can do.”

Ilford visit Chelmsford next on November 17.