OXFORD Saints suffered their heaviest defeat for five years as they went down 52-9 at Sussex Thunder.

Isa Mohammed scored the only touchdown for the visitors, who are still waiting for their first win of the Central Conference Division 1 South season.

Thunder had won all three meetings with Saints last season, but two of them had been close matches.

The visitors might have thought they were in for another even clash early on, when Mohammed ran in for a quick reply to Chris Evans’s score.

Sam Fielden kicked the extra point to level the scores at 7-7, but from then on it was one-way traffic.

Ben Chukwu-onu restored the hosts’ lead with a 34-yard touchdown.

Thomas Kelly was the next to reach the endzone and a field goal from James Brooker, who had already kicked two extra points, stretched the advantage to 24-7 at the end of the first quarter.

Touchdowns from Samuel Oldfield and a second for Chukwu-onu gave Thunder a 38-7 lead at half-time.

Jaden Ellis snuck over from a yard for the first score after the restart, but Saints did at least add to their tally when a spell of pressure earned them a two-point safety.

It will have come as little consolation, though, as Thunder went on to have the last word when Ellis laid on a touchdown for Evans with a 40-yard pass, with Brooker completing an excellent display by executing one final successful kick.

Saints have a chance to bounce back on Sunday, when they host fellow winless side Bristol Apache.