It may not have been the result that the Met Police had hoped for on the last day of the 24-25 League season, but it was certainly a match for the memory. The Met travelled to Motspur Park knowing that League Two survival was assured. Their hosts still faced some jeopardy, although what happened elsewhere would be the main arbiter. In the event, Old Boys did everything they had to do for their own part, collecting a try bonus point along with the slimmest of victories; meanwhile, Old Haileyburians were relegated from Surrey/Sussex 1, ensuring that only Kingston would be relegated from League 2, and Old Blues were safe. The Met, who could pin their defeat on two shocking conversion attempts, left the fray with two bonus points, a satisfactory mid-table finish, smart new jerseys and hope for the next season springing eternal.
The Met, as has been their custom on too many occasions this season, began the contest with a starting player still in transit, so a heavily strapped and lame Steve Routledge made an unscheduled start. It seemed to cause little harm, the Met camping on the Old Blues' 22 for the first few minutes. As coach Graham Shaw anticipated a strong start from the home side, and a fade in the second half, this was a positive opening. It was undone by suspect decision making by the Met as they entered the red zone, and some rapid whistling by the official. Using the crossfield breeze, Blues fought their way up the right touchline in front of massed ranks of supporters who were vociferously enjoying the odd libation in the warm sunshine. With the Met lineout having some early struggles, Blues lock John Larkin found himself opening the scoring with a converted try.
It quickly went from bad to worse for the Met: with Old Blues handling crisply and running excellent lines, the Met were antagonising the referee as they scrambled to defend. Makeshift prop Dylan Richards was the one to push the official over the edge and, with 22 minutes gone, the Met were down to fourteen. Although Jonathan Broadhead arrived to add ballast and know-how to the front row, Blues were quick to exploit the numerical advantage and a second converted try extended the lead to 14-0. The Blues' showing made a mockery of their league position and the Met were struggling to get a grip on the game as the penalty count wracked up. It took a moment of individual inspiration to halt what had begun to look like one-way traffic. Will Ferguson found himself with the ball in his hands and a little bit of space. He was quickly closed down but bounced off and through the Blues pack and half-backs, running round to score under the posts and give Chris Holloway the easiest of conversions.
Richards returned from the sin-bin and Old Blues were reeling. Ferguson had smashed their self-belief along with their tackles. Kofi Butcher did magnificently to surge through a narrow corridor on the right touch line with Will Jay in support. The ensuing phases saw hooker Sam Bailey power over to reduce the deficit and, with the clock ticking into the red, the Met pack drove upfield and Bailey emerged with the ball and his second try. The half-time whistle blew with Met 17-14 to the good, but it hailed the final action from centre Conor Finch who was replaced by Freddie Dalley.
The second half would turn on the use of the boot. To be precise, the Met's inability to kick accurately. The increasingly strong cross-wind was of no benefit to the Police but Old Blues did use it effectively, even though it was slightly in their faces. Ten minutes of the Blues probing and regathering their equilibrium led to them regaining the lead with their third converted try. The Met responded immediately and Sam Bailey scored his third (unconverted) try of the afternoon to capitalise on good work by Stirrup and Short, securing the Met's try bonus point and a single point lead. Then the wheels came off the Met wagon. Blues forced their way back into the Met half and snatched back the lead with their fourth try. This time they fluffed the conversion. Dalley launched the restart directly into touch and from the scrum restart, Old Blues consolidated their lead with a fifth try. Cormac Healy took over the restart and managed to do even worse than his predecessor, scuffing the kick straight to the Old Blues standing in front of him who took full advantage of having an undefended field, extending their lead to 14 points.
Showing immense character, the Met re-gathered themselves after a dreadful 7 minutes in which they leaked three unconverted tries. Using the wind sensibly for once, the Met forced their way into the home team's 22. Controlling the ball well off the lineout, Bailey smashed his way through several defenders to score his fourth try of the day and this time Dalley added the extra points. Old Blues clearly felt they had done enough to win the day but were exhorted by skipper Joe Ede to prevent the Met gaining a losing bonus point. To the Met's credit, they showed higher aspirations than that, launching a sustained attack that Blues struggled to contain. Several penalties came the Met's way, the Police battering at the try line but Blues resistance held firm. In the last few minutes, Coach Shaw's pre-match prediction eventually came true, Blues ran out of energy and defenders. In a fitting denouement to his very successful stint as Club skipper, Cormac Healy surged over the line, touching down near the upright. With the clock again in the red, Dalley lined up the kick to claim a draw. The wind blew, the crowd held its breath, and the kick curled outside the near-post. A game of the closest margins was lost and the curtain came down on the 24-25 season.

The Met will go into the close season with morale relatively high, despite this narrow and frustrating defeat. A new management set-up, Jake Cottrell, Graham Shaw and Cormac Healy having announced retirement as Director, Coach and Captain respectively, will pick up a squad that has the potential to beat any team in Surrey 2, if availability and attendance at training can be assured. New additions to the squad -Finch, Short, and Wansell - have contributed greatly and the return of Will Jarrett will strengthen competition in the back row. The return to fitness of Jack Short and Kofi Butcher has been welcome, and it remains to be seen if Chris Holloway will fancy another season so he can be remembered as a try scorer rather than a sometime kicker of conversions (his last two scores have come from the kicking tee). There have been outstanding performances from leading try scorer Sam Bailey, Will Ferguson has proved that he can play 80 minutes occasionally, Ed Gardner and Jack Doswell have contributed huge shifts, while Jonathan Broadhead and Dylan Richards have provided vital heft to the Met pack, a unit that has gained more yards than it has conceded. The thin blue line needs some reinforcements, particularly in the front row, but overall the Met look in good shape.