Esher RFC are planning for life in National League One after clinching promotion with four games to spare, writes Graham Barr.

Victory and a bonus point against Blackheath in front of a bumper crowd on Saturday means Mike Schmid's men cannot be displaced from the top two, bringing to an end their seven-year stay in League Two.

But they were made to work hard before they could start celebrating, and the final score of 39-12 appeared unlikely when they trailed 9-5 at the interval.

To be fair to the home side, they played into a strong wind in the first half and would have been content to restrict Blackheath to three penalties, while adding a Matt Moore try themselves.

With the wind at their backs, Esher quickly gained the ascendancy. Moore's second touchdown was converted by Neil Hallett within minutes of the restart to make it 12-9.

Hallet added three points after the visitors were penalised for offside at a lineout and, when Richard Briggs went over under the posts, the fullback had the easiest of conversions to make it 22-9 nine minutes into the half.

With the win all but secured, Esher's next target was a fourth try for the bonus points and, after another penalty for Blackheath, it was delivered by Czech Ladislav Vondrasek 15 minutes from time.

Hallett made light of the wide conversion and Esher could start dreaming of the promised land.

The party continued as Moore capitalised on Matt Leek's smart blind-side break from a scrum to completed his hat-trick, and Hallett added the extras to round off another good afternoon's work.

The final whistle was greeted by joyous scenes, which could be repeated should Esher win at Bradford & Bingley on Saturday to secure the League Two title.