On a gloomy and blustery afternoon at Rugby Lane, top of the table Sutton & Epsom overcame the elements and the visitors, running out 21-0 winners over Medway.

The London Division One South leaders kicked off with the strong wind in their favour and had a perfect start.

As he has done many times in the past, Matt Whitaker's power and pace carved open the opposition defences and he strode in from 40 metres.

The extras came courtesy of Sam Hurley's boot and the Black and Whites were 7-0 to the good within five minutes.

The rest of the half was a frustrating affair for the hosts as the wind increased in equal measure to the tenacious defence of the men from Rochester.

The Kent side were well organised, trying to keep the ball in hand and retain possession for as long as possible rather than kicking against the elements.

Aaron Phillip continuing with his fine form was a threat all afternoon and had a try disallowed on the half hour though the tackler was knocked out in the process.

The sides turned around with the guests trailing by seven points, but with the strong wind now in their favour.

Significantly the home bench was exceptionally strong and Guy Stuckey-Clarke, in his last appearance at Rugby Lane prior to returning to his native Australia, replaced an injured Dave Cook.

Mike Blakeburn, returning for his first game of the season, joined the fray with George London.

Just before the hour mark the illusive running of Stuckey-Clarke created an overlap for Kyren Ghumra who was making his first start of the season following a frustrating absence through injury.

The speedy winger raced in to score and Hurley extended the lead to 14-0.

With five minutes to go the home side made the game safe when London skilfully pirouetted away from the tackler to score by the posts, and Hurley slotted over the additional points to complete the scoring at 21-0.

This weekend, Sutton travel to London One South new boys Chiswick (kick off 2pm).