Medway prop up the table in Regional 1 South East after a 19-5 defeat at Sudbury.

The loss was Medway's 11th this season while fellow strugglers Hertford and Sidcup both won to leave Taff Gwilliam's side four points adrift.

Gwilliam said: “I cannot fault the effort or the endeavour. The boys gave their all. If we can reduce our error count then we can still succeed with our survival aim.”

Sudbury started the sharper, led by an impressive display from their No.8 who continually got them out of trouble when Medway pressed, and they touched down after just seven minutes.

The ball was stolen from a Medway lineout in the home 22 and quick hands set up a converted try.

The rest of the half saw Medway press the home side on the back of a stronger scrum. Penalties were won and kicked to touch, but the usually-reliable lineout misfired and opportunities were spurned.

Medway did manage to score in the final minute before the break when the referee sin-binned a home player for a knock-on. Bill Sandison and Jordan Stubbington combined to provide the lineout ball and Olly Newton broke in midfield to create space outside for Sean Marriott to go over in the corner.

The visitors' cause in the second half suffered setbacks with fly-half Owen Church-Mills forced from the field with an ankle injury. Ben Dance moved to fly-half and John Sipawa came on the wing.

They also lost tighthead Maik Timmerman, with Dan Huntley moving from blindside flanker, while 18-year-old Ayodeji Oyesola came on for his 1st XV league debut, acquitting himself well.

Dan Jackson, meanwhile, came off the bench late on for tiring captain Tom Beaumont, who was playing his first game for two months following injury.

Two second-half tries from the home side sealed the victory. One early in the half and one late. In between, Medway dominated possession but Sudbury defended well despite another yellow card for persistent infringement under pressure.

Medway are on the road again on Saturday when they take on second-place Colchester.