By Mark Bruce

Aside from a 10-minute spell either side of half-time on Saturday, Gravesend were more than a match for table-topping Beckenham in Regional 2 South East, losing 36-29.

In a frenetic opening few minutes, which saw the referee go down worryingly after a player collision as well as the loss of full-back Rhys Betts with a suspected broken hand, Gravesend’s Matt Hewitt managed to touch down for the hosts following the scrum restart.

Beckenham hit back to run in under the posts and lead 7-5 after 15 minutes, but were then perhaps lucky to still have 15 players on the pitch following a high tackle on fly-half George Bruce, who nonetheless rode the challenge to force his way over. The Beckenham player had to leave the pitch as a result of the collision.

Better was to come from Gravesend when, following a flowing backs move, Callum Smith scored out wide to give the home side a 17-7 lead. But whether it was one eye on the break or a lack of fitness, Gs then switched off allowing Beckenham to score 29 unanswered points either side of the interval.

With results elsewhere not necessarily going their way, Gravesend knew they needed the bonus point and on 65 minutes it duly arrived, courtesy of another fine move with Smith once again touching down. More was to come when Samraj Chahal collected in a maul close to the line and forced the ball over.

With the score at 36-29 to the visitors with 10 minutes to play and the Beckenham No.8 seeing yellow for one infringement too many, Gravesend sensed the impossible may be on. Unfortunately for them it was not to be and the league leaders saw out the game with relative ease, despite a nasty-looking injury to one of their wingers.

Second-bottom Gravesend travel to Reeds Weybridge this Saturday for a rearranged fixture.