Medway edged a tight contest to record their second Regional 2 South East win of the season with a 27-26 success at Sidcup.

The visitors started the battle between last season’s relegated sides the stronger and Sean Mariott set up John Sipawa for his first try of the game - a pass from 10m out saw Sipawa power over the line and Owen Church-Mills added the conversion inside three minutes.

Sidcup hit back with a penalty, but Max Bullock added Medway’s second try. A mispass from Church-Mills took out the defence leaving Medway free down the wing with Sipawa finally offloading for Bullock to touch down. The extras gave the away side a 14-3 lead.

Another Sidcup penalty closed the gap but Medway added to their tally when Sipawa bounced off three players and won a penalty 30m out, converted again by Church-Mills.

Sidcup led into the break after two converted scores but Medway, with debutant Todd Johnson having an impact from the bench, retook the lead three minutes into the second half when a couple of phases gave them the overlap and Bullock got his second try.

Medway’s final try of the day came from Sipawa, who was a problem for Sidcup all afternoon. Dan O’Brien broke through the defence and passed to Conor Chalmers. He gained ground and after a couple of phases, the ball found Sipawa on the wing again and he did the rest.

The missed conversion meant a closer finish when Sidcup added two penalties to trail by a point, but Medway held firm to sit seventh in the standings.

They host London Cornish on Saturday.