Maidstone's showing in their 27-5 defeat against Cobham in London 1 South on Saturday proved to be closer encounter than expected.

With a number of key players unavailable, Maidstone had approached the game against the second-in-the-table side with some trepidation.

Ryan Mills was the major casualty in the previous week’s defeat to leaders Gravesend, so Mike Molloy moved to fly-half and veteran Dave Tugwell was a late addition at scrum-half.

The elements played their part, with the strong wind and showers favouring the type of scrapping rugby that can be delivered more easily by underdogs.

Maidstone missed two early penalties and the only score of the first half came when Cobham’s scrum-half found a gap to go over for a 5-0 interval lead.

The second half saw the elements favouring Cobham and a fine display of inter-passing saw the visitors score again to take a 10-0 advantage.

A third try by Cobham, which was converted, proved decisive.

Maidstone did manage to hit back. Mark Ryan won the restart and broke through a ruck of players before finding Ben Cleary on hand to move the ball deep into the Cobham 22.

Lee Thomson got the score when the ball was quickly recycled from the resultant loose scrum, cutting the deficit to 17-5.

Another Cobham try ended any thoughts of a close finish and a further score, on the final whistle, added an undeserved gloss to the results.