Up until the sixty-fourth minute the result could have gone either way, but then Gravesend seemed to push the self destruct button.
A series of missed tackles combined with a gift pass to the opposition saw Stortford run in four tries and were successful from two conversions for twenty-four points in fifteen minutes.
Gravesend started well and following some good drives from the forwards, Jon Clement fed Gary Gray to the left and his chip ahead was chased by Tom Goss, under pressure the visitors full-back spilled the ball.
The speedy winger, Goss was quick to make the most of this as he dribbled the ball forward and won the chase to the touch-down, Josh Smith added the extra points for 7-0 after ten minutes.
Gs continued to dominate these early exchanges, and when play entered the opposition twenty-two, smart passing in the forwards, led by hooker Warren McKee, lock Dave Irvine forced his way down for a try.
As the first quarter neared its end, the visitors were starting to get more into the game, and pressure inside Gs twenty-two was rewarded with a penalty which fly-half, Tom Coleman slotted between the posts to put the visitors on the board at 12-3.
The quick thinking Coleman was instrumental in the next score, as a second penalty was awarded he kicked wide to the unmarked Nick Harris, who appeared to be four metres in front of the kicker, to catch the ball and touch-down.
At this stage, Gravesend continued to dominate the play, and as the visitors were caught offside Josh Smith added a penalty for a comfortable 15-8 lead.
Missed tackles gave Coleman the space he needed to send the ball wide and it was again Harris who finished off some quick line passing and run round near the posts.
Coleman’s kick levelled the scores at 15-15.
Stortford’s back-row were beginning to make a greater impact on the game and just reward came to one of their number when Richard Gill crossed the line.
Coleman added the conversion before Josh Smith closed the gap to18-22 at the interval.
Just after the restart, Gary Gray who had put in some huge tackles in the first half was forced to leave the field due to injury, replaced by Tony Whitehead.
First score went to Gravesend as Smith added his third successful penalty kick of the afternoon, reducing the deficit to just one point at 21-22.
Stortford changed their tactics after the break, keeping the ball close in the forwards, drawing in the Gs defence to make the overlaps out wide.
A Wayne Child try as Gs were caught with their defence too narrow, and Coleman’s conversion added to an earlier penalty put the visitors ahead 21-32 at the end of the third quarter.
Further changes as Gravesend’s Manbir Mann came on for the injured Dave Irvine, and Tom McCraith replaced Hamish Irving for Stortford.
From here on the result of the game could still have gone either way with fifteen minutes to play, but Gravesend imploded.
Fifteen minutes of mayhem as the visitor’s forwards led by their number eight Mark McCraith supported by an attentive scrum-half Tom Banks, caused chaos in the home ranks.
The visitor’s backs made the most of this resurgence and tries were added by centre John Stocker and full-back Sam Winter, who had been prominent in the second half.
Hooker Warren McKee limped off to give Jon Luck the last ten minutes on the park.
Gs continued to suffer from their own ineptness as tackle after tackle was missed, and with so much space Harris ran in his third of the afternoon.
Dave Adlam stormed in to touch–down Storford’s eighth try of the day, and Coleman capped a fine performance with two more conversions.
Injuries apart, and Gs are suffering from many of these, it must be back to the basics during training, as few of the fifteen on the park today managed to bring their man to the ground.
Looking back through the game, the loss of Gray, so soon into the second half, had a detrimental effect on Gs game as they seemed to lose direction.
Tomas Ford and Chris Anstey played well in the back row, while Josh Smith Kept the points going forward with some fine place kicking, also noticeable was the changed more positive attitude of Scott Curley as he encouraged the play throughout the game.
Gravesend: Sam Hall, Adam Bishop, Scott Curley, Josh Smith, Tom Goss, Gary Gray, Jon Clement, Nathan Lines, Warren McKee, Jamie Forsyth, Dave Irvine, Phil Thomson, Tomas Ford, Chris Anstey, Ziggy Stevens. Rep: Jon Luck, Manbir Mann, Tony Whitehead.
