Eton Manor began 2017 in disappointing fashion as they slipped to a narrow 24-22 defeat to London One North strugglers Ruislip.

Ruislip have a history of upsetting the odds against Manor, having prevented them claiming the title three season’s earlier with an end of season victory.

Their was little sign of history repeating itself in the opening exchanges, however, and Max Murray’s interception try gave the visitors an early advantage.

While Ruislip were enjoying the better of the territory, Manor were still creating chances and they extended their lead to 12-0 when Nick Sheppard finished off a fine team break.

The hosts turned the game on its head in the closing stages of the half as three quick scores gave them the lead at the interval.

Firstly, a succession of needless penalties allowed Ruislip to move into the Manor 22 and their number eight crashed over under the posts.

Manor struggled to control proceedings from that point on and Ruislip touched down in the corner to take the lead for the first time.

A frenetic few minutes came to a close in calamitous fashion for Manor when James Osborn was adjudged to have brought down a rolling Ruislip maul.

A yellow card and penalty try followed to compound Manor’s misery and hand Ruislip a 21-12 lead.

Manor would require an impressive comeback to claim victory in the second half and an early Ruislip penalty complicated matters further.

They responded almost immediately as some fine link up play between Callum McKie and Michael Eghan allowed the latter to go over, reducing the arrears to five points.

A late tackle and second yellow card for Osborn slowed Manor’s momentum somewhat and they were left chasing the game with 14 men late on.

Despite moving to within two points of their opponents thanks to a Sheppard penalty, Manor could not force the issue and missed out on victory in the cruellest of fashions.

A penalty some 40 metres out gave them a final chance at claiming a win, but Sheppard’s effort sailed wide with the final kick of the game.

Manor will hope to lift themselves in time for a home match against Old Fullerians in their next match.

It was a far more productive weekend for Chingford as they hammered Letchworth Garden City 53-5.

The bonus point victory was the ideal way for Chingford to bounce back after suffering a 20-13 defeat to local rivals Eton Manor before the Christmas break.

They have now won four of their last five league matches and sit third in the table.

Any hopes of catching runaway league leaders Tring, who have won all 15 of their matches, may be overly ambitious, but they remain just five points behind second place Brentwood.

Chingford will hope to claim another victory when they face Thurrock in their next league match.

Saturday’s hosts sit sixth and have experienced patchy form in recent weeks, drawing two and losing one of their last five matches.

Epping Upper Clapton and Woodford met in a local grudge match which proved to be incredibly keenly contested as Epping scraped to a 18-17 win.

Woodford came into the match with an eight point advantage over their rivals but were ultimately unable to match Epping.

The result sees Woodford slip to sixth in the table while Epping have climbed two places to seventh.

Woodford face a daunting task in their next match as they entertain high-flying South Woodham Ferrers.

Second place Ferrers are 10 points behind pace setters Diss, but have played three games fewer.

Epping, meanwhile, will be confident of recording a win against bottom of the table Campion.

London Three North East side Wanstead were in imperious form on Saturday and eased to a resounding 56-11 win over Lowestoft & Yarmouth.

The Herons ran in 10 tries against the league’s basement club to leave themselves four points clear in second place.

Wanstead will look to carry on their fine form, which has seen them win six games in a row, against West Norfolk in their next game.