Ashford achieved their first clean sheet of the season on Saturday and produced their best rugby in beating Erith 26-0 in Kent 1 to move into seventh place.

There were few scoring opportunities in the opening exchanges although Erith did miss two penalties.

They were made to pay after 22 minutes following a break through the Erith three-quarter line by Ashford captain Pete Walsh.

He was held up five metres from the line but the ball was recycled from the ruck and prop Dave Connell went over.

Erith were becoming frustrated with relentless Ashford pressure and that led to a yellow card for their left-winger.

Ashford immediately exploited the advantage. Centre Joe Lakin (pictured above) picked a loose pass and sped over for a try converted by Jonathan Murray.

Ashford went into the break 12-0 ahead and with just over an hour gone, increased their lead when Lakin outmanoeuvered the opposition and scored.

A re-shuffle saw the introduction of the speedy Ben Knight and he immediately added pace and mobility to the pack.

On 75 minutes, Knight broke from a scrum on the halfway line, made 35 metres and fed the ball to Mike Watson, who dodged through a gap in the defensive cover and scrambled over to score Ashford’s fourth try.

Murray’s third conversion of the day sealed the win.

More rugby in this week's Kentish Express