Matt Whitaker is out to settle some scores in London One South next season after Sutton & Epsom won a dramatic promotion shoot-out last Saturday.

Some dogged defending and last-ditch resistance kept Charlton Park at bay in the final stages of their London Two South play-off, and gave Sutton a 15-12 win thanks to tries from Jack Wilson and Pete Matthews and five points from the boot of Sam Hurley.

They return to London One South just a year after being relegated in a season where they lost every single game, and Whittaker wants revenge.

“We want to put right some of the wrongs of last year,” the skipper said.

“I think there are quite a few of the same teams still in the league so it would be good to go back to them and give them a run for their money.

“We have a much better team now and we will cause a few surprises. Going straight back up is really good for the club, especially as last season was such a rough season.

Wimbledon Times: S&E Jack Wilson

Try! Jack Wilson goes over for Sutton & Epsom in the win over Charlton Park

“Moral was at an absolute low but, this season, a lot of things changed. “We got a few new players, a few new coaches and a completely new structure and for us to bounce straight back up again was immense.

“It is great for the supporters. A lot came to watch us even when we were losing week in, week out last year, so it is great to be winning games like this for them.”

After a slow start on Saturday, Sutton were 15-7 up going in to the final stages when Park’s players opted to run a penalty instead of kick for three points that would have brought them within a converted try of winning.

It was a decision they regretted as, when they did get the try, a conversion was no good and they sacrificed it on the advice of the referee to try and score again from the kick-off, only to knock on and give the game to Sutton.

“The referee said they could sacrifice their conversion and take the kick off as there would not be time for both,” said Whitaker.

Wimbledon Times: Lee, Matt and Jeff

Terrific trio: Coaches Lee Cholewa and Jeff Parsons flank skipper Matt Whitaker

“I didn’t know you could do that, it was one of those that probably only the ref knew.

“A few boys said the referee should not have told them but he was just doing his job, he was actually really good.

“Charlton started the match much better than us and we were defending for a lot of the game.

“They have some big ball handlers and we were just hanging on.

“But it was a big relief at the end and we had a big night out. There was a lot of beer and a lot of songs on the coach on the way back – though we need to learn a few more songs as we kept repeating the same ones.”