Streatham-Croydon’s Surrey Three destiny is now in the hands of the Gods after a demoralising 24-5 defeat to Worth Old Boys, writes Owen Jones.

To make matters worse, Streatham then saw Merton guarantee their survival with a high-scoring win over Old Amplefordians on an adjoining pitch.

After negotiating some baffling road diversions on the way to the ground it was the referee who seemed to have some difficulty navigating around the rule book as he failed to penalise Worth OBs for a litany of offences, particularly around the scrum.

It took him until the 71st minute to finally send the OBs prop to the bin by which time the game was pretty much up for Streatham.

Missing their top scorer Aaron Brown and a clutch of other injured first team players, matters were not helped when fly-half Tom Owen could last only 10 minutes before being forced of with a shoulder problem, to be replaced by Conor McNama.

Worth Old Boys were gaining much success with a series of clever kicks down the right-hand wing that eventually led to their first score, the ball bouncing wickedly and evading Mario D’Cruz allowing an unconverted score from the Worth winger.

A similar tactic brought their second try as the second row reached out a long arm to touch down after a series of drives from a lineout.

Streatham then began to dominate the game, albeit from 10-0 down.

Some strong running from midfield set up good field position from where James Batty was mauled over by his pack from a lineout.

James Park missed the conversion but Streatham’s game plan for the rest of the game looked like it was going to bring them further reward after half-time.

Streatham began the second half on the front foot and once more mauled themselves to the OBs line only for the maul to be brought down, the referee deciding this was done fairly.

Streatham continued to hammer at the OBs line, Damion Darlington, Jonathan MacNeaney and James Park all going close but unable to apply the killer finish.

Streatham’s desperation began to show as frustration began to mount at the disruptive tactics of the OBs back row and the inconsistent refereeing not allowing any quick ball from which to launch Streatham’s dangerous wingers.

Park was shown a yellow card as a result, and the man advantage was made to tell as Worth worked an advantage in the backs to score a converted try to make it 17-5.

Streatham did not give up however, and, after a quick tap penalty, MacNeaney appeared to restore hope as he galloped 40 yards towards the line only to be called back by the referee on the advice on the home pack who claimed that he hadn’t taken the tap cleanly.

Streatham’s misery was complete as Worth scored their fourth try, the fly-half knocking on as clear as daylight before regathering and slipping a tackle to go in under the posts, the conversion stretching Worth’s lead to 24-5.

With the number of teams being relegated from each of the Surrey leagues to be decided by the number of teams going up and coming down from Surrey 1 and London 3 South West the probability is the bottom three teams will go down, meaning Streatham could join Old Oundelians and Haslemere next season in Surrey 4, despite having the fourth best points difference in the league.

Their four point penalty handed to them by the RFU is ultimately to blame, and the turmoil of being governed by such an incompetent governing body is something every rugby player in the country must regret.