Streatham-Croydon used the opportunity of having two friendly fixtures to rest a number of key players and to try different combinations in both the first and second 15s.

The 1st XV were away to Camberley 2s, whose firsts play several leagues higher than the Frant Road side and it showed in a 20-12 defeat.

A torrid first 20 minutes saw Streatham concede 20 points without gaining any meaningful possession.

However, once the new combinations began to gel and new fly-half Nigel Ridge was able to impose some control on the game Streatham dominated the rest of the match.

Several forceful drives from Ope Odelusi and Dan Perreira plus aggressive tackling from the returning open-side Jack Kebble allowed Ridge to put in some excellent raking kicks to force Camberley back into their 22.

Several phases of pressure followed and ultimately a sharp break by scrum-half Kai Cassemis left three defenders on their backs to go under the posts to bring the score back to 20-7.

Streatham maintained the pressure from the restart and sharp interplay from the backs put skipper Garvin Toussaint over only for the try to be ruled out for an adjudged forward pass.

Streatham started the second half in the same manner driving straight into the Camberley half with strong runs from new Yorkshire prop Tom O’Neill forcing the stockbroker-belt Surrey side into giving away numerous penalties.

A well worked Streatham move put Odelusi in under the posts only for the referee to disallow the try for the ball not being grounded properly but there was now only one side in it and constant pressure allowed winger Andy Daniels to burst through to make the score 20-12.

Repeated infringements from the home team saw Streatham again on the attack but several promising positions were squandered as Streatham tried to force the pace and despite several opportunities they were unable to add to the score in a game that should have been won.

The Thornton Heath side will be happy to have recovered from a poor start and will be bolstered by the return of several key players for next week’s opening home league game against CL London.

Elsewhere, the club’s 2nd string were able to record a  44-31 win over Chobham in a game featuring the debut of several new signings, notably  Paul and Dan Markevics.