Old Walcountians slipped to fifth in Surrey One after defeat at relegation-threatened Croydon on Saturday.

The Old Boys were missing key players in Chris Mockford, Jack South and Gavin Welsh but otherwise had a side with previous experience at this level.

The dry, sunny conditions were tailor-made for Walcountians to bring their speedy backline to effect and, in the opening 10 minutes, they threatened to cut loose as they ran Croydon ragged.

But they took too many wrong options and missed three golden opportunities to open their account.

Croydon had back in their side several players who had missed previous games and, after the opening scare, proceeded to put Walcountians on the rack as their powerful pack of forwards got the better share of possession.

The home side were also well-served by their half-backs, Craig Bond and Benson Mburu, who drilled the Old Boys back into their own half with penetrating tactical kicking and razor-sharp breaks from the scrum.

The only Walcountian to show any resistance was No 8 Steve Bayles who competed ferociously for every ball and kept Croydon’s defence on their toes whenever he had the ball.

The home side took the lead after 14 minutes when they formed a ruck from a tap penalty close to the Walcountians line, from which the ball was released to Chris Palmer who smashed his way through the Old Boys’ defence to touch down.

In the 26th minute, Croydon scored again following a break down of play in their own half, from which they counter-attacked and Palmer once again touched down for a second converted try.

Walcountians were forced to use all their replacements, with flanker Scott Cook and prop Kemlo Longstaff going off injured.

However, it was not until the 25th minute of the second half that they made a breakthrough which promised the possibility of saving the game.

Kiwi centre Dan Crompton intercepted a weak pass in his own half and left the Croydon defence for dead with a spectacular run for the line which ended with him touching down under the posts for full-back Ollie Beales to convert.

The slender hope that Walcountians might save the game were extinguished three minutes later when the Croydon pack rolled a maul over the Walcountians line for a try, Craig Bond sealing Walcountians’ fate.

Walcountians rallied aggressively in the final ten minutes as their forwards began to win a decent share of the ball in the loose, but a determined Croydon defence held them out.

This weekend, Walcountians are on tour in the West Country and take on Keynsham in a friendly.

The Old Boys’ next competitive match is against Cranleigh in the semi-final of the Surrey Shield on 20 April, in a repeat of last season’s encounter at this stage. The game will be played under floodlights at Cranleigh’s ground at Alfold Crossways, kicking off at 8pm.