Four tries and a penalty helped Hendon overcome Cranbrook 27-22 and win the London & South East Junior Vase final on Saturday.

Tries from Toby Ikwueke, Junior Farao, Billy Burrell and TJ O’Sullivan were added to by a late penalty from Cian Hynes to secure the win.

Hendon fell behind in just the second minute when they conceded a penalty which Cranbrook capitalised on.

From the re-start, though, the home side looked more like themselves and they were rewarded for their bounce-back when a nice interchange between Rob Casey and Chris Kiyingi allowed Ikwueke to go over in the corner.

Hendon remained on top from this point and they went further ahead shortly after when Farao crashed over for their second try after Dan Watterson had been stopped.

However, another defensive error allowed Cranbrook to reduce the arrears to 14-8 from an unconverted try, and a further try plus a penalty saw Hendon fall behind again, trailing 16-14 at the break.

Hendon restart the game and they were swiftly back in front as Burrell picked up just short of the line and dived over.

A fourth try soon after from O’Sullivan extended their lead before two Cranbrook penalties brought them back into it again.

With five minutes left though, a Hynes penalty sealed the win, which sets up a meeting with South West Division winners Old Cryptians in the semi-final, which at the moment has no date due to the suspension of all RFU fixtures.