Streatham-Croydon’s director of rugby Bob Dean wannts his charges to forget about a third successive promotion, despite an opening day win in Surrey Two.

Dean’s men put CL London to the sword 44-33 at Frant Road on Saturday – Walter Pretorius starred with a hat-trick of tries, supported ably with scores from Nigel Ridge and Aaron Brown.

However, not only was Dean reeling in thoughts of reaching Surrey One, he was also critical of his team’s overall display.

He said: “We gave away too many penalties and also failed to react properly to giving them away. We allowed them back into the game all too often.

“CL London were relegated from Surrey One last year, but they are a good enough side to exploit the mistakes that we made.

“Having said that, I was pleased to start with a win because there is not going to be any easy games in this division.

“Last season we knew there were a few games we could go into expecting to win, but we have to make sure we don’t have that same mentality this time around.”

Streatham always had the upper hand on CL London, despite finding themselves 33-31 down during the second half.

Strong running from Chris Tipton and Jeff Greenleaf formed the basis of a fine attacking display while debutant forwads Dan Pereira and Ben Reeve performed well.

The Streatham players now travel to Old Emanuel with Dean’s warning  against complacency ringing in their ears.

He said: “I don’t want talk of three straight promotions because it can make the players think they are better than they really are.

“We’ve had a couple of really good seasons, but we are bound to hit the ceiling at some point this season and if the players are thinking we will win promotion we may hit that ceiling much sooner.

“We’re going out to win, but this season is all about consolidation. If we finish in the top half, that’s fine.”