By Mark Bruce

Gravesend suffered their eighth Regional 2 South East defeat of the season after a 25-17 loss at home to Old Reigatian.

The hosts gifted their visitors two tries in a lacklustre first half. The first after a decent opening from the home side - only for an interception on the halfway line which allowed Reigatians to gallop away and score under the posts.

The second saw a Reigatians clearance head towards the goalline and the covering full-back wrong-footed as the ball hit the corner flag. It bounced back to rest on the line, and the Old Boys slid in to touch down.

In between those scores the away side, who were always lively in the back line, scored a fine try out wide with a single effort by Chris Shorter the only response from Gravesend as they trailed 22-5 at the break.

The second half saw a better effort by Gs but despite having the lion's share of field position they were unable to capitalise. Some ill-discipline by Reigatian resulted in a yellow card, but despite the numerical advantage Gravesend couldn’t make it count.

There was time for late tries by Ben Kite and Chris Brady, reducing the deficit to eight points, but a bonus point proved beyond the hosts, who visit seventh-placed Old Alleynians on Saturday.