It was a case of mission accomplished for Battersea Ironsides as they clinched the Surrey Division One title last weekend.

Despite losing 15-14 at Camberley, who could have stolen the crown if they had won by more than eight points, Ironsides won promotion to the London leagues for the first time in the club’s history.

Skipper Colin O’Keeffe is now preparing his side for potentially three more vital games, starting this weekend with the Surrey Shield semi-final at Guildfordians.

But priority number one was the league title – and tries from Max Woodcock and Danny Nukajam, and two conversions from Jamie Hosie made it so.

O’Keeffe said: “We knew Camberley would come at us, and at one point we were 12-0 down.

“But we played with patience and composure and even when we were eight points behind with only five minutes left, we had the guile to come through.

“When the final whistle went, there was silence until we realised we’d won the title, then we went ballistic with the champagne.”

He added: “It was close in the end, but did we deserve to win the league? Absolutely. We’d gone six months unbeaten and had been top of the table virtually all season.

“It’s a massive accomplishment, and now we have potentially three massive games we’re going all out to win – including the matter of a trip to Twickenham in the National Vase final against North Allerton in May.”