By Mark Bruce

A late fightback ensured Gravesend earned a narrow home Regional 2 South East win over Sutton & Epsom on Saturday.

Sutton & Epsom, who are coached by Harlequins and England forward Alex Dombrandt among others, had played some of the early leaders, so Gravesend knew this was going to be a stern test despite their lowly position.

The hosts found themselves 16 points down in the first quarter of the match due to a combination of a slow start, poor tackling and a strict interpretation of the laws by referee Richard Hanks which saw Gravesend, not only concede a try, but also numerous penalties.

But as the half wore on, Gravesend started to play with greater confidence and Samraj Chahal got their first try after a well-worked move before, shortly after, a Sutton player was yellow-carded.

They got their first penalty try on 31 minutes as Sutton infringed and collapsed the maul.

While another yellow card took Sutton down to 13 players, the visitors saw out the rest of the half to hold a 16-12 half-time advantage.

With the wind on their backs and Gravesend gaining in confidence, scores were exchanged with another two home tries coming, one in particular coming from a well-worked backs try, finished off by Andrew Cooke, being met with another try and penalty for Sutton.

They were down 26-22 with 10 minutes to go but Chahal popped up with Gravesend’s second try of the day to get their noses in front.

Most play now was in Sutton’s half but, try as they might, they couldn’t find a way through and the hosts claimed their second penalty try.

The latter stages saw Gravesend see out the 36-29 victory despite a yellow card for a high tackle.