St Albans Rugby Club inconsistent season continued as they went down to 20-3 to a competent and organised Belsize Park side.

It promised to be a long afternoon in Regents Park as Saints lost Craig Huddleston to injury within the first few minutes of kick-off.

The testing conditions made handling difficult for both sides although the reshuffle in the pack didn’t help the visitors.

However, there were signs that Park had some very potent runners in their three-quarters if they could get the ball wide and it was from such a move that the home side opened the scoring.

Trailing 5-0 St Albans new back row of Joe Pleece, Sam Lowery and Dave Martin started to play their way into the game.

And they got their reward when an offside decision against the hosts allowed Nick Woolley to kick a penalty.

Aggressive competition in the loose from Saints kept Park’s attacking moves to a minimum, contributing to the 5-3 half-time score.

But with the rain in their faces, the second half saw Saints under constant pressure.

And despite some committed defence, in which Fraser Morris and Jamie Hissey stood out, St. Albans could not halt the inevitable.

Three further unconverted Park tries finished off the scoring.

Saints did not play badly and there were encouraging aspects of their game, but they lack a play maker and suffer from a constantly growing injury list.

They will hope some of that clears for the visit of Finchley to Boggymead next Saturday.