by Luke Cawdell

Lordswood have been deducted five points for fielding two ineligible players in the same game.

Both players took part in the 36-0 defeat at Beccehamian on October 30 and the adjustment sees Lords drop from third to fifth in the Shepherd Neame Kent 1 table.

Club secretary Al Cannon said: "Eighty-five per cent of the first team weren’t available for the match and we just about managed to scrape a team together.

"Two of the players have been with the club for years but they were never registered for the first team. Everyone assumed they were because they had been around for so long, but they had never played for the 1st XV before.

"Nobody thought to check the list and when they don’t do that this happens.

"With the way we are at the moment a lot of people are standing in and a couple of guys have taken over the day-to-day duties of putting a team together.

"It’s one of those things and they are more informed now."

The standard punishment for fielding a single ineligible player is the deduction of two points, but the RFU appear to have made an example of Lordswood.

"We’re just keeping our heads down and trying to concentrate on playing rugby," added Cannon. "They seem to have downer on us."

The club are awaiting a revised date for an RFU hearing into the abandoned match against Sheppey.

The original hearing was cancelled during the recent cold snap.