Tonbridge Juddians' first away game of the National League 1 season ended in defeat, but there were plenty of positives to be taken from their trip to Rams.

The hosts were runners-up in the 2019/2020 season so Juddians were always going to face an uphill battle, however once they found their feet they caused their own problems and Tom Chapman was rewarded with a second-half try.

Mistakes at the set-piece allowed Rams to gain field position inside the first quarter. That, coupled with a long period of scrum dominance, put Juddians under a lot of pressure. A penalty try got Rams on the board while Judds' Alex Reid was shown the yellow card.

Things got tougher when Rams' Ben Henderson crashed over from short range but Tonbridge's pack fronted up and Tom White placed some expert kicks into the corners, winning a penalty which White converted to get his side off the mark.

A second yellow card for the visitors, this time for White, put Tonbridge on the defensive again and Ollie Cole skipped around the side to put Rams in total control.

Once more Tonbridge Juddians were able to gain a foothold but could not open up Rams as the home side held resolute. More penalties came and this time Harvey Young slotted right in front of the sticks to take the game to 19-6 at the break.

Juddians needed a bright start to the second half and they got it, with impressive turnovers from Tom Nicol and Reid keeping the home side at bay for a while.

However, Rams remained patient and a Tonbridge mistake in the 22 forced the issue and a lovely kick through from Drew Humberstone allowed Conor Hayhow to touch down in the corner leaving Tonbridge 18 points down going into the final 10 minutes.

This sparked the away side into life and the fightback began. Brilliant breaks from Joe Duffy, Duncan Tout and Hugo Watson got Judds close before Chapman sneaked through on an inside ball to cross the whitewash in front of the posts. Suddenly a bonus point was on the cards and the conversion was taken quickly with the visitors on the attack again.

Juddians did get over the line once more, but were held up as the clock went red. Understandably Rams opted to drill the goal-line drop out into touch to end proceedings.

Tonbridge will be looking to get their first win of the season when host Sale on Saturday.

Read more: All the latest sports news in Kent