The Old Ruts badly needed a win to keep in contention for the top spots of Surrey league division one. Old Paulines were the visitors to Poplar Road, looking to excel in the league.

Ruts burst from the blocks from the start with winger Grahame Blenman scoring twice in the first five minutes before fly half Alistair Willey chipped over the flat Paulines defence to score easily. This was then converted.

Paulines gathered themselves and put the pressure on. The Ruts defence stood firm until the 35th minute of the first half when the inside centre wriggled over to make the half time score 17-5.

In the second half Paulines mounted pressure using their pack and centres to gain territory up the middle of the pitch, but strong tackling from Elton Swartz, Stuart Rimmer and Paul Hillier ensured there were minimal gains.

Paulines won a penalty for an offside decision, which was duly scored, but then, after defending for much of the match, Ruts began mounting attacks of their own.

Darren Ramen struck twice with two well taken tries for Ruts to emerge 27-8 winners and climb to fourth.