After holding Dartfordians to a 7-5 lead at half-time, Ashford’s young side were overpowered 40-11 by the Kent 1 leaders in the second half of Saturday’s game.

Ashford captain Pete Walsh said: "The boys were tremendous in the first half. We knew we had nothing to lose and really took the game to Dartfordians. But in the second half, they made their greater experience and weight in the pack tell."

Trailing to an early converted try, Ashford grabbed a try of their own that their first-half efforts deserved when, from a Dartfordians 22m drop-put, Ashford skipper Peter Walsh made the catch and then charged to the home side’s 5m line.

He was tackled by two players but still managed to find Mike Watson with a pass and the inside centre dived over the line.

That try gave Ashford renewed hope for the second half, but what it couldn’t do was to make up for the disparity in the size of the respective packs, and Dartfordians gradually turned the screw up front as the Ashford youngsters tired.

The consequence was several more tries for the home side while Ashford could only respond with two penalties from fly-half JJ Murray.

Walsh said: "I was proud of our performance against a team who have won every one of their league games this season and we should take great encouragement from it."