Tabard brought the curtain down on 2017 in disappointing fashion as they suffered a 34-0 defeat against Harrow.

The visitors were shorn of a number of players by injury and struggled to cope with their London Two North West of London rivals.

With both sides separated by just one place heading into the game, the size of the defeat will be a concern to Tabard who are now 10 points adrift at the foot of the table.

The bigger Harrow pack proved to be a thorn in Tabard’s side and they repeatedly exploited scrum and lineout opportunities.

Still, it took Harrow half an hour to make their superiority tell when a kick for the corner allowed them to set up a catch and drive and the first score of the game.

A yellow card for the Harrow hooker couldn’t turn the game in Tabard’s favour and the home side scored once more in the corner to make it 12-0 at half-time.

Despite keeping the score relatively competitive in the first half, Tabard soon found themselves reeling after the break.

Harrow came out of the blocks flying and a simple catch and drive over the line gave them their third try.

Tabard’s response was a proactive one and they began to play with greater freedom.

However, a handling error on halfway allowed their opponents to collect possession and run in a bonus point score.

With an hour played the Harrow pressure yielded a fifth try of the day and they recycled the ball well to add one more before the close.

The table makes for grim reading for Tabard heading into the Christmas break and they will need to up their game considerably if they are to survive the drop.

They return to action on Saturday, January 6 with a home game against Hampstead, which is bound to be a test with the visitors occupying second spot in the table and a point behind leaders Harpenden.