On a bright and sunny day Scottish played towards the park end of the ground and Esher kicked off with a slight breeze behind their backs. In the opening phases of the game it was clear that the visitors were intent on throwing the ball wide. On the 2nd minute the Esher scrum was penalised for collapsing a scrum inside the Scottish 22 metre area after they had knocked on at a line out. Immediately after this play, the Esher pack was penalised for deliberately pulling down a rolling maul and Scottish opted to kick into the Surrey side's 22 metre area. At the lineout, Scottish lost possession and the Esher backs ran the ball from deep. An excellent sequence of passes by their backs saw Esher work the ball out wide, eventually to full back Luke Daniels, who was on an overlap touching down 15 metres in from the touch flag. Flanker Peter Synnott converted to put the away side 0 - 7 ahead.

For the next 15 minutes or so the play was evenly matched, however Scottish were beginning to dominate in the forwards. This dominance paid dividends when after a sustained period of pressure close to the Esher try line by the Scottish forwards, the ball was quickly moved out to the Scottish fly half Dan Mugford who cut through the Esher back line, slipping through a missed tackle to touch down beneath the posts. Mugford converted to leave the scores all square at 7 -7.
The Esher side was now clearly trying to force the game, and in one move, winger Seb Stegmann knocked on when he had an opportunity to break through the Scottish defence. On the 27th minute there was a case of some "Argy bargy" as the great late Bill McClaren would have described it. As Scottish kicked to the corner, they were prevented from taking a quick lineout in the Esher 22 metre area, 5 metres short of the visitors try line when one of the Esher players deliberately threw the ball into the crowd. At the resultant melee, Scottish were penalised by the match officials for retaliation allowing the visitors to clear their lines.

Scottish took the lead on the half hour mark after a series of rolling mauls, pickups and drives by the Scottish forwards close to the Esher try line. The ball was eventually moved out to full back Stuart Peel on an overlap out wide and he dived over to touch down. Mugford missed the conversion attempt, but it left Scottish 12 - 7 ahead. Esher were constantly looking to move the ball out to their very good backs, and on the 34th minute the ball was eventually passed to England Sevens winger Charlie Walker who put on the after burners and scored 15 metres in from the touch line. Synnott converted to put the visitors 12 - 14 ahead. Esher scored their third try of the match on the 38th minute of the game, when after being awarded a penalty, the Esher hooker Stuart Mackie took a quick tap penalty and touched down to the left of the posts. Fly half Nicky Little converted to put the Surrey side ahead 12 -21 at the half time break.

On the 42nd minute, Little was penalised for tackling a player without using his arms. Rather than take the points, Scottish opted to kick to the corner for a line out. From the line out, Scottish retained possession and the forwards took the play close to the Esher try line and after a series of rucks, prop Alex Clarke was driven over by his fellow forwards. Mugford converted to leave the score 19 - 21.
On the 56th minute Esher scored their fourth and bonus point try when, after a series of good interplay between their backs and forwards, flanker Sam Stitcher scored out wide 3 metres in from the touchline. Synnott missed with his conversion attempt to put the visitors 19 - 26 ahead. At this point in the game the Esher supporters in the crowd began to believe the impossible, however Scottish were still in possession of a losing bonus point.

Scottish began to press the Esher side into their own half and this pressure finally paid off on the 66th minute when the away side were attempting to run the ball out of their half of the pitch. The ball was passed to Little who attempted to move the ball to inside centre Mark Atkinson. However, centre Charlie Hayter, anticipating the pass, intercepted the ball and raced away to score to the left of the posts. After touching down, Hayter was engulfed by the whole of the Scottish team and replacements who were limbering up in the opposite corner of the dead ball area. Mugford converted to leave the scores all square at 26 -26.
This fourth try confirmed Scottish's status in the Championship for next season. Far from caving in, Esher continued to play good backs play and it was not surprising that on the 79th minute Walker touched down out wide after a series of excellent moves. Atkinson missed the conversion attempt and shortly after, the match official blew the final whistle. There followed tremendous scenes of celebration by the team on the pitch.

So another chapter in the long and illustrious history of London Scottish comes to an end with the conclusion of this match. The club has retained its status in the Championship and unlike last season the club has an additional month to prepare for next season's Championship campaign. To all supporters who have supported the team throughout this season's ups and downs, many thanks.

Signing off for a well deserved summer break and look forward to bringing you the action next season. Enjoy the break.

Dan Mugford was awarded the FirstCape Man of the Match award.