A POOR ten minute spell before half-time cost Oxted dear as they bowed out of the England Hockey Cup at the semi-final stage on Sunday.
The O's lost 6-1 to in-form Surbiton to bring their impressive run to a crushing end, having been the last national league side from outside the top flight left in the competition.
Oxted competed well in the opening stages, with Jonathan Wilkes-Green scoring in the 20th minute to cancel out Fergus Dunn's opener for Surbiton.
But three Surbiton goals in the space of seven minutes towards the end of the half put the game out of sight for the O's, with Chris Grassick netting twice and Great Britain international James Tindall also on target.
At 4-1, it was a long way back for the O's and so it proved, with Grassick completing his hat-trick in the second half, before Alexander Penney rounded off the scoring in the 56th minute.
Oxted defender Mike Trim said the 6-1 scoreline flattered Surbiton, but he admitted that their finishing on the day had been clinical.
He said: "At 1-1 it was a very close affair, but they scored three goals in quick succession before half-time with some great finishing.
"Maybe we showed them a little bit too much respect and we perhaps let them get their shots off, but they were very clinical.
"It was always going to be difficult then to come back from 4-1 down and we were chasing the game, but we put in a good performance in the second half and I think 6-1 did flatter them."
Trim added that the exertions of Saturday's 2-2 draw at Cambridge City may also have taken their toll on the O's players, adding that there were some tired legs by the end of the game on Sunday.
However, he said the O's were pleased to have secured their Men's Conference East safety with the hard-fought draw the day before.
"That was an important game for us," he said.
"We went there with a depleted squad of just 12, including a few youngsters, and it was good to get the point that secured our safety, but we ended up a bit disappointed having been 2-0 up."
Goals from Michael Gee and Jonathan Wilkes-Green had seemingly put the O's on their way to victory, but Cambridge fought back in the second half, with relentless pressure eventually telling as Stephen Dick and Nicky Thompson struck in the final five minutes to rescue a point and deny Oxted a win that would have kept them in third.
But it is still possible for the O's to achieve their aim of a third- place finish, with Bromley and Beckenham the visitors to Oxted County School for the final league fixture on Sunday.
And Trim said the club would be looking to finish the season on a high.
He said: "We want to get the three points on Sunday and if Indian Gymkhana can get a result against Teddington, we could still finish in third place, which has been our aim this season.
"If we can do that, then we can reassess for next season and I think we are capable of challenging."
