Verulamians’ distant hope of sneaking into the promotion spaces vanished after a 46-22 defeat to Finchley.
The result all but keeps the Londoners in London North West Three for another year and saw their tactically savvy fly-half open up Vees too easily at times.
Injuries didn’t help the home team’s cause either, with Cameron Craig, Billy Sach and Tom Bloomfield all departing the field.
It was still close at half-time with Finchley just edging into a 17-10 lead with two converted tries and a penalty, beating Ben Russell’s converted effort for Vees.
Joe Baker got a try early in the second period, but that was surrounded by three more for the visitors.
The Vees’ back-row of Baker, Tim Fretter and Luke Bell, plus Charlie Deacon and Sam Crowne, started to cause problems and it led to Russell’s second try.
But another two unconverted tries finished the game in Finchley’s favour and left Vees hopes in tatters.
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