Battersea Ironsides 35 - Gravesend 27

Gravesend’s fine run ended on Saturday as they were brought down to earth by a rampant Battersea Ironsides.

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With the Ironsides sitting 3rd from bottom at the start of play when Josh Barnes scored under the post following an interception and offload by George Bruce Gravesend may have been forgiven for thinking they were going to have an easy afternoon. 

This complacency permeated through the side and allowed Battersea to waltz through the middle time and again to score four unanswered tries.  When Gravesend did secure good position they were guilty then of not taking their chances and coughing up possession on too many occasions.

With the half time score at 28-7 some stern words were had and Gravesend put in a much better performance playing up the hill.  The rolling maul which has been a feature of late worked a treat following a line out close in and Samraj Chahal was on hand to touch down. 

While the fight back was on it did not last long as Battersea once again took advantage to score out wide and convert to make the score 35-15.   

Gravesend did not give up and fought back well. Samraj Chahal and Josh McKenzie added to the tally to bring the scores back to 35-27.  With a few minutes left Gravesend tried in vain but ultimately knocked on and the referee blew the final whistle. 

With the number of penalties conceded by Battersea it was a wonder they did not see more cards but ultimately it was some poor tackling and a failure to take their chances which proved costly.

Next week Gravesend host Sutton & Epsom.