By Mark Bruce

Gravesend succumbed to another agonising Regional 2 South East defeat at the weekend - this time hosts Old Colfeians took the spoils 22-20.

After one-point losses in their last three games Gs were hoping to turn the tide against their fellow strugglers. They decided to play into the face of the poor weather in the first half against a bigger, heavier pack so it was imperative the away side stayed within touching distance of their opposition and the game remained scoreless for 20 minutes.

However a combination of kicking the ball away, a poor kick chase and missed tackles saw the home side make the most of their limited opportunity to run in three scores. Gravesend responded with a Gary Brett try and a penalty by Rhys Betts to trail 22-8 at half-time.

The second half was pretty much all one-way traffic, but on countless times Gravesend failed to make the most of their opportunities. This was compounded by the opposition being reduced to 14 men on at least three occasions for high tackles.

It took 15 minutes of the second half before Gravesend could make their numerical advantage count when Chris Shorter picked up and drove over the line to reduce the deficit.

The fact that it was another 25 minutes before Gravesend scored again showed a lot about the Old Boys’ determination and their desire to defend the first-half lead. This time it was Matt Bruce who managed to crawl across the whitewash but, like the previous week against Sutton & Epsom, the conversion agonisingly went past the posts.

There were, however, some excellent displays on the park and a good introduction for Gravesend debutant Bradley Money.

Second-from-bottom Gs host fifth-placed Sidcup on Saturday.

Gravesend’s Regional 2 South East rivals Medway saw their game at home to Battersea Ironsides postponed.