By Mark Bruce

In what was almost a carbon copy of the weekend before, Gravesend surrendered a 14-point lead against fellow strugglers Dartfordians to lose 25-24 in Regional 2 South East.

The visitors were first on the scoreboard, but Gravesend hit back on 22 minutes when they were awarded a penalty try and Darts received the first of three yellow cards.

Gravesend were not able to make the most of their numerical advantage, however, with only another Rhys Betts penalty to show for their efforts. Dartfordians then scored a second try leading up to half-time but another missed conversion meant the scores stayed level.

The second half started brightly for Gravesend and when Matt Brady intercepted the ball and scampered home from the halfway line so began the best passage of play by the home side. It was no surprise when Chris Shorter followed this score up on 56 minutes which took the lead out to 24-10 with a quarter of the game to play.

But, same as against Old Tiffinians the previous week, Gravesend sat back and allowed Dartfordians to get the upper hand.

The game turned in a moment of controversy when, from a wayward pass, the ball clearly went out of play which caused the Gravesend players to stop - only to see Dartfordians kick the ball back into play and set up a strong position. The resultant yellow card on Gary Brett for a high tackle and converted penalty gave the visitors new hope.

Gravesend had become rattled and passes were not going to hand, kicks were missed and balls were dropped. It was no surprise, then, when Dartfordians managed to add two scores to move ahead with less than 10 minutes to go.

The hosts regrouped and still had the opportunity to snatch the lead but a Betts penalty went agonisingly past the post and Dartfordians played out the rest of the game without real incident to snatch the spoils and open up a seven-point gap between them and Gs.

With results elsewhere not going their way, Gravesend slipped to 11th in the standings. They are next in action at home to midtable Sutton & Epsom on November 30.