Maidstone were handed a 39-14 home defeat as Dover showed why they are riding high in London 1 South with an impressive performance at The Mote on Saturday.

The home side had hoped the heavy pitch would stall the visitors’ free-flowing style but those hopes were dashed within a minute of the kick-off when Dover centre Jamie Townley finished off a move that had started in their own half,

A second Dover converted try followed on 10 minutes and they then added a penalty to move 15-0 in front.

At this point a heavy defeat was looming for Maidstone but they started to produce some meaningful attacks of their own, one of which was ended illegally by a Dover player and the home side were awarded a penalty try.

Maidstone continued to pressure only for Dover to snatch a third try to lead 20-7 at half-time.

The second half started with Maidstone again on top but Dover’s county fly-half Martyn Beaumont then knocked the stuffing out of them with a superb solo try.

Two further Dover tries secured the win before Maidstone came back at the close, Steve Matthews powering over after two previous short range attempts had been thwarted.

Peter Horne added the conversion to give a more respectable look to the scoreline but the disparity between second-placed Dover and the home side was there for all to see.