Merton moved to the top of the League last Saturday, despite producing a below-par display in a 34-5 victory over Economicals at the LSE Sports Ground.

The Morden Rec outfit's preparation for the game was disrupted by events beyond their control, and this, ultimately, contributed to their performance on the field.

Suffice to say, centre Craig Millan found himself playing in the unlikely role of wing forward!

Facing a huge Economicals XV, the visitors realised that it would take a big effort to come away with the spoils, but quickly realised that the pace at their disposal in the threequarters would be a great asset.

Initially, they took the ball to the hosts through their forwards, but after sparring for the first ten minutes, they unleashed their back division, quick ball from Garth Hume finding its way down the line for debutant Conor Hayes to break inside the first defender and then outside the second for a brilliant solo effort.

The home side came back at Merton, but were held out by superb defence, with Matt Cooper, in particular, putting in some big hits. Eventually, they turned over possession, and Hume again put Tom Wood away.

The wily fly-half then drew his man and slipped the ball away to Reg Varney, who again showed great pace, chipping the ball over the head of the full-back, gathering and going over the whitewash.

It was the in-form Hume who added Merton's third try, breaking from the back of a scrum to go over under the sticks, Wood converting.

As the game moved towards the half-time break, the visitors managed to increase their lead, lock Mike Reid being on hand following a quick tap penalty from Hume to plough over with the last two defenders on his back.

With the benefit of a 22 point lead at the start of the second-half, Merton appeared to go off the boil and began to make a number of handling errors.

This gave the hosts a bit of a lift, and they eventually forced their way over the line from a set-piece.

The visitors then responded in kind, Reid again being the beneficiary after a drive by the forwards.

As the game moved towards its conclusion, Merton had the final say, Hume again being alert to spot a gap and surge over for his second score of the afternoon, adding the conversion himself.

Merton know that they must pick up their game if they wish to retain top position.

For this Saturday's friendly against Battersea Ironsides, they are without Hume, Cooper, Reid and Hayes, but hope to have David Borchardt, Heath Hooper, Darren Glossop and Richie McLaughlin back in contention.

New players, of all standards, are welcome to attend training on Wednesday evenings at 7.30pm, under floodlights, at Morden Recreation Ground, Faversham Road, Morden. For more information, call Jack on 07970 166958.