WESTCLIFF suffered a third narrow defeat in succession on Saturday, losing 19-13 at home to promotion favourites Tonbridge Juddian.

Westcliff led 15-7 towards the start of the second half before the visitors hit back to triumph.

And Westcliff’s director of rugby Rick Compton was again left suffering mixed emotions.

“It was a better performance that last week against Southend, when I think the sense of occasion squeezed the quality out of both teams,” said Compton.

“It’s also encouraging that we are able to compete toe-to-toe with these clubs but the frustration each week at the moment is huge.

“The lads are so close to getting the results they deserve and today, but for one pivotal moment from a restart, I think we would have gone on to win the game.

“For now it’s another opportunity that has slipped through our fingers and we must look ahead to our next challenge when we are at home once more and Westcombe Park visit.”

Tonbridge opened the scoring with a converted try at the weekend before Westcliff began to hit back.

As the half progressed and entered the last 10 minutes the home-side got their reward when enterprising play exploited space down the narrow side and resulted in Andrew Roskams setting up Oli Beavis to score on his first senior start.

An injury time penalty from Jack Jones then put Westcliff 8-7 in front at half-time when the returning Joe Vandermolen replaced the injured Rupert Edwards.

The second half started well for Westcliff and it was only a few minutes old when a barrelling run from George Maloney put the visitors on the back foot close to their line.

And, a few patient moments later, Ewan Binneman crashed over for Westcliff’s second try of the afternoon.

Jones added the conversion to put the home-side 15-7 in front but before their lead could be consolidated a pivotal moment arrived.

Directly from the kick-off momentary hesitation and indecisiveness allowed the ball to bounce and somewhat fortuitously bounce into the arms of the chasing Tonbridge back row, who did not break stride or draw breath before he glided over the line and under the posts.

Suddenly an eight-point lead had evaporated and although Westcliff still led by a point, the nature of the score was deflating while the opposite was the case for their opponents, who were clearly delighted by the turn of events.

Tonbridge then enjoyed a 10-minute purple patch during which they scored a further try to take a four-point lead they were not to relinquish.

Westcliff: Roskams, Beavis, Dudman, Jones, Merrick, Whiting, Branch, Weston, Macintyre, Binneman, Edwards, Scoggins, Jobling, Marsh, Maloney Replacements: Skidmore, Hopkins & Vandermolen.