Dover slipped another place down the London 1 South table to 12th after a fifth consecutive loss on Saturday.

The Sharks were beaten 38-17 by hosts Chobham but coach Graham Tonks’ side made their second-placed opponents work hard for the win.

Chobham, who have now won 14 of their 17 games, led 10-0 at one stage in the first half before Dover showed plenty of fight to produce an impressive comeback to take the lead.

Harry Sayers went over before Hayden Annakie crossed just minutes later to put Sharks back level. Jack Ayling converted Annakie’s try to put Sharks ahead but the lead proved to be short-lived with Chobham scoring a try with the last play of the half to lead 15-12.

It was a lead they never relinquished with Dover only having Ben Crawford’s try to show for all their second-half efforts.

But Tonks admitted it could have been a much different result had his kickers found their range.

He said: “We missed 13 points which is not good enough and that will hurt you – and
it did.

“Saying that, I think we deserved to get something out of the game because we did play well, especially in the first half.

“We showed plenty of character and determination to get back into the game but ultimately that effort cost us.

“We ran out of legs in the final quarter and that’s when they (Chobham) put on a few points to make it look a more comfortable win than it was."

Read the full story in the Mercury