Old Albanian Saints’ hopes of putting some frustrating results behind them disappeared at Chesham with a 10-3 defeat.

While performances have been good in recent weeks, Saints’ results haven’t been.

Chesham on the other hand have had an upturn in fortunes and were a far improved side to the one that were beaten convincingly at Woollams earlier in the year.

From the off OAs felt the pressure up front where the battle was ferocious.

Chesham were well-drilled and threw bodies into the rucks trying to spoil the ball.

On a pitch suited for a slow game and playing up the hill, OAs suffered in the first-half for both territory and possession.

And it was Chesham who opened the scoring when one of their number found a huge gap in the Saints back-line and ran in untouched from 40m.

This kick started the visitors and the game became more confrontational, with some very aggressive defence and breakdown work from Steph Leddington, Kate Barnes and Charlotte Fredrickson setting the standard.

In the backs, captain Robyn King and Katie Robertson found success with a direct approach and the momentum slowly shifted towards OAs.

In the final 10 minutes of the half, multiple phases with the whole team involved helped wear Chesham down and while Saints couldn’t cross the line, a penalty from Robertson made it 5-3.

The second half saw the introduction of Emma Cramphorn at tighthead and the scrum quickly became a dominant platform for OAs.

It meant a far more even contest but another Chesham break brought a second try.

OAs’ frustrations continued with a number of try scoring opportunities being passed up and despite concerted pressure, Saints left Buckinghamshire without a try.

Forward of the match was awarded to Cramphorn who came off the bench to add power in the tight and dynamism in the loose.

Back of the match was given to Robertson at fly half, who maintains her high level of personal performance and giving the whole team direction.

The Saints welcome Hampstead to Woollams for the final league game of the season on Sunday March 20.