Narrow defeat for Westcombe Park (From News Shopper)

Tonbridge Juddians 21-17 Westcombe Park

10:35am Tuesday 11th September 2012 in Sport By John Ward Turner

TWO tries to one and a mix of penalties was enough to secure a hard-fought 21-17 win for Tonbridge Juddians against Westcombe Park on Saturday.

Tonbridge’s tries came in the first half with breaks down the right from John McMahon and Lee Campion, together with a conversion and penalty from Dan Hawkes.

Two out of three penalties for Luke Giles was Combe’s answer in the first half as the Orpington side went in trailing 18-6 at the interval.

Combe’s try came early in the second half, with Ryan Fuller benefiting from strength and perseverance in midfield.

The conversion was missed but a penalty apiece a few minutes later, and another one missed by TJ’s, maintained a seven point gap.

Combe were now very much in the ascendancy and another penalty from Joe Simpson with 10 remaining set up a tense finale, with the visitors now only a try away from victory.

But a resolute TJ’s defence did just enough to close out a very tight game. It didn’t start well for Combe but they soon stopped TJ’s power and worked well to cross the line first but it was brought back for a five-metre scrum.

It was Tonbridge’s superior speed which brought them their success, outrunning the Combe defence.