WESTCLIFF suffered their third National Three London & SE defeat in succession, losing 32-15 to Shelford at the Gables.

Westcliff raced into an early 8-0 lead before the visitors hit back to come out on top.

And that again left Westcliff’s first-team manager Rick Compton a frustrated figure at the final whistle.

“It was something of a repeat dose from last week,” said Compton.

“We were in the game for three quarters of it during which time we held a lead and had realistic opportunities to extend and build upon it.

“But we failed to do so before dropping off as the game drew to a conclusion.

“It’s frustrating but there were positives as well and, all-in-all, it was an improvement.”

Winless Westcliff were initially on top at the weekend with Chris Dudman kicking an early penalty before Chris Marsh touched down for a try which made it 8-0.

The visitors replied with a penalty before Westcliff hit back with a sustained period of pressure on the Shelford line.

But a concession of needless penalties from Westcliff saw Shelford escape unpunished before two wayward passes allowed the visitors to level the scores with an unconverted try.

The score stayed at 8-8 until half-time but, shortly after the restart, Westcliff winger Ross Merrick sustained a hand injury which required a visit to hospital.

The subsequent reshuffle saw Westcliff hiding a forward in the backs and, shortly after the enforced change, Shelford scored a well executed catch and drive try to take the lead for the first time.

In reply, Westcliff began to enjoy their own spell of pressure which resulted in a Shelford player being yellow carded.

But Westcliff could not make their extra man count before Shelford hit back, when back to 15 men, to score a converted try which put them 20-8 in front.

After that, Westcliff’s levels started to slip in the final 15 minutes, allowing the visitors to edge further ahead.

And, although Westcliff’s Sam Reynolds did score an impressive try which was also converted, Shelford had the final word when the ball bounced fortuitously into the path of their chasing winger to score.

The defeat saw Westcliff slip to third from bottom in the standings ahead of Saturday’s visit to seventh placed Hertford.

Westcliff: Dudman, Ansell, B Reynolds, O’Brien, Merrick, Jones, Parmenter, Meakin, A Whiting, Roberts, Scoggins, Barnett, Marsh, Meredith, S Reynolds

Replacements: Morrant, Whitmore & R Whiting.