UCS Old Boys continue to struggle, losing a narrow half-time lead to suffer their fourth defeat in a row against newly-promoted Hackney in London Division Three North-West.
Damir Jovanovic scored a first-half try and Matt Jacobs added two penalties as UCS took an 11-10 lead into the break, but they were unable to maintain their advantage and went down by nine points.
After starting the season with two wins from their first three league games, the Old Boys’ recent losing run has left them ninth out of the 12 teams in the division.
UCS started well, keeping it simple with some good structured rugby, but they lost Alistair Thomson to a knee injury after five minutes and then conceded a converted try.
The Old Boys were quick to fight back though and, after sustained pressure, they capitalised on a five-metre scrum as a powerful eight-man drive allowed Jovanovic to touch down in the corner.
Jacobs kicked two penalties while Hackney scored one of their own, and that left UCS one point up at the interval.
However, the momentum shifted after half-time and, when UCS made a hash of a kick chase, Hackney broke the length of the field, set up position in the visitors’ 22 and created an overlap to score a converted try in the corner.
UCS enjotyed long periods in spent time in the Hackney 22 but coughed up possession at the crucial moments and a head injury forced Tom Loughnan off before a yellow card reduced UCS to 13 players with five minutes left.
They continued to exert pressure but could not find the telling pass, and the only score was a final penalty from Hackney.
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