Charlton Park’s weakened squad succumbed to a 21-40 defeat to newly-promoted Medway on Saturday.

Medway travelled to Charlton Park full of confidence, having made a solid start to the season and sitting in third spot before the fixture.

This belief showed as the visitors started the better of the two sides and took the lead with an early penalty awarded when Charlton were unable to deal the kick off kick effectively.

Despite falling behind Charlton responded well but were unable to threaten Medway.

With both sides trading two penalties each through the half with Charlton’s Alex Miller kicking well from long distance, a tight match ensued and it was only in the closing minutes of the half that Medway’s forward dominance saw them score a push over try to open up any semblance of a sustainable lead.

Medway took the initiative in the second period as Charlton struggled in the forward exchanges.

Despite injury problems the hosts made several breaks of their own and this resulted in tries for Reion Rabye and Sam Baker.

However, Charlton’s efforts were not sufficient as Medway’s overall dominance saw both their backs and forwards contributing to a further four tries to wrap up a convincing victory.

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