Sutton & Epsom coach Lee Cholewa insists this weekend’s top of the table clash against Guildford will not decide the destination of the London Division One South title.

Both sides suffered rare defeats at the weekend, meaning Sutton go into the game at Rugby Lane six points clear of their rivals.

A maximum bonus point victory for Sutton could open up an 11-point lead with five games to go, and it is in those five games that Cholewa believes the title will be won or lost.

“This is the kind of game where I don’t need to give the players a team talk, they will be more than up for it,” Cholewa said.

“What I need to do however is keep their adrenaline and passion channelled in the right way and make sure they say focussed.

“But whatever the outcome, this is not a title decider. It is very important to win, but there will still be five more games to play.”

Last weekend’s defeat, featuring tries from Dave Cook, Andy Matthews, James Caddy, right, and George London, plus extras from Frankie Murray, ended Sutton 17-match unbeaten run.

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While disappointed at the end of the winning sequence, Cholewa also admitted that it served as a reality check.

He said: “It was an odd one because it was rearranged on what would have been a free weekend, both teams were missing key players.

“We started very well and after 25 minutes we were 25-3 up, dominating everything and creating lots of opportunities. They got a try back just before half-time, and then in the second half we just imploded.

“We made so many errors, very unlike us, whether it was concentration I don’t know but Tottonians took their chances, and we could not respond.

“It was a tough day, it was a reality check. On their day, any team in this league is capable of beating anyone else – if you switch off, if you don’t do the basics, if you miss tackles or you don’t kick the ball into touch when you mean to, you will not win games, and that is what happened.

“We were fortunate that Guildford lost at Havant.”

Cholewa is sweating on the fitness of Steve Burton and Felix Symonds.