By Mark Bruce

It’s back-to-back wins for Gravesend after a hard-fought 17-10 Regional 2 South East victory against Cobham.

The match started brightly for Gs, the forwards seizing the initiative with their rolling maul allowing top try scorer Samraj Chahal to add to his tally. With Josh Smith’s conversion, Gravesend were on the front foot at 7-0 up.

What followed turned into a scrappy affair, punctuated by poor decision making and ill-discipline which allowed Cobham to score. A penalty from Smith gave Gravesend a five-point advantage, but the game was in the balance.

The hosts were forced on the defensive in the second half as Gs struggled to set the backs free, although one break saw Smith threaten. Instead it was Chahal again who went over after a now-standard driving maul executed to perfection.

Despite being reduced to 14 men for one transgression too many, Cobham had the last say with a well-worked try out wide. That set up a tense last 15 minutes as Gravesend defended like demons with player-of-the-match Thomas Bird putting in some big hits.

The win leaves Gravesend 10th ahead of a trip to 11th-placed Sidcup this weekend.