On paper this was always going to be a hard game for SCRFC, having lost their opener to Kingston and only just pipping Ecomincals in the final 5 minutes last week. It was with slight trepidation that the team travelled the short distance to Motspur park to take on early league leaders Old Blues.

If Streatham have been guilty of anything this season it is taking time to get going and not playing to their full ability from the very first whistle and again unfortunately this was the case. From the start Streatham were under pressure from the hard running fast paced home team and desperate defence lead to an early penalty which the Blues slotted over with only 5 minutes played. 3 minutes later Blues threw the ball wide, stretching the Streatham defence who were unable to cover in time and blues were 8-0 up within 8 minutes.

Those on the side lines feared the worst (Blues having won both their opening games by a considerable margin), concern was growing that the Streatham side where about to be swept aside, but things never quite go as you imagine. It had taken almost 10 minutes but finally Streats turned up to play, The defensive line suddenly found an extra yard of pace, putting the attackers under pressure, with little time to think Old Blues were limited to trying to break through the middle where they found the brick wall that is the Streatham back row. Streatham were pinned in their own half for much of the first 30 minutes but Old blues were not looking half as dangerous as they had at the start and began having difficulty containing the strong running Streatham pack. When the ball was shipped wide, the backs were breaking the first tackle on almost every occasion and the pace and power of wingers Witter, Gallagher & King-Daniels was released again and again only to falter due to a mistake or lack of support.

On the 15 minute mark Streats finally made the first of what would be many breaks, with only the full back to beat the Streatham scrum half was just about to pass the ball when the supporting Streatham player was tackled hard by Old Blues, The away crowd cried cynical and called for a yellow, the players suggested a penalty try, the Referee however decided only on a penalty, which Lewis Weston calmly took. Streatham were now finding the gaps and pushing Old Blues back, it was obvious to everyone that the home team were unused to the physicality of the Thornton heath side, complete dominance in the scrum allowed Streatham plenty of ball but again and again scoring moves were squandered due to lack of a final supporting player or a bad pass. Finally the pass did stick and Harry Clarke was able to punch through the remaining tacklers to touch down on the stroke of half time.

The second half was a nail biting affair with both teams attacking hard but neither being able to finish, strong tackling from both sides saw the physios on and off the pitch with startling regularity, Eventually some individual skill from Old blues saw them extend their lead which they increased again with a penalty kick. In a very frustrating final 15, the game started to disintegrate and twice the referee spoke to the captains following some altercations between the two teams. With the final seconds ticking away back row Josh Smith went over for Streatham with one of his trademark tackle breaking runs, with Weston adding the extras it finished 21-15. Streatham earning another losing bonus point

In what turned out to be a very frustrating game for the coaching team, there are many positives Streatham can take away, they were as good if not better than the league leaders, the scrum is one of the strongest in the league and if they can just start to find those final support runs and get some of those final passes to stick they could have run away with this game. A better understanding of when to risk the pass and when to hold onto the ball would have saw them winners today, but you'll never win when you pass your own ball to the opposition 4 times. They have a week off now to work on their finishing before Old Caterhamians visit Frant Rd on the 22nd of October.