BOTH sides struggled to cope with the monsoon-like conditions.

The referee deliberated long and hard before finally allowing the match to take place.

The conditions at the Nationwide sports ground were never going to allow any constructive rugby and the game was eventually all about who made the fewer mistakes, with both sides consistently knocking on.

College had a couple of early penalty chances but kicker Sean Millwaters had a bit of an off day although one effort unluckily hit the post.

It was Bassett who opened the scoring after 15 minutes when fly half and skipper Neil James struck a neat penalty following an offside offence.

The game degenerated into a hard fought midfield slog with Bassett losing their Aussie exchange player Matt Hill to the sin bin for a period after a scuffle between the forwards.

Just before the interval a blindside break set up by former Bassett coach Tony Brant saw the College full back go over in the corner to set up a 5-3 half time lead.

Just after the restart James struck the ultimately crucial penalty following another College offside.

With veteran Bassett centre Steve Cunningham shadowing College dangerous Millwaters out of the game, the Bassett defence began to get on top.

However, College put on a grandstand final ten minutes, piling forward in a desperate attempt to breach the Bassett line. The defence stood firm and the victory moved Bassett up to third place in the table.

Bassett's under-15's were beaten 12-7 by Oxford u-15s.