WESTCLIFF suffered a double setback on Saturday as they fell to a shock 36-10 defeat to Guildford and lost Charlie Jobling for the rest of the season with a broken leg.

The humbling was Westcliff’s second of the season and left director of rugby Rick Compton feeling disappointed.

“There’s disappointment and frustration with how we played and the failure to overcome the problems a committed visiting side presented us with, which coupled with the turnover tries conceded resulted in a comprehensive defeat,” said Compton.

“We are also concerned about the injuries.

“Charlie Jobling had surgery on Sunday and we anticipate him being out for the season now.

“Billy Morrant also got injured but we are hopeful he will not be out for so long.

“His injury is still being assessed and he will in any event be out for several weeks at least.”

The opening exchanges of Saturday’s clash provided little indication of the drama which was to unfold.

Carrying on from their emphatic victory at Westcombe Park, the hosts were immediately in the groove, launching wave after wave of attacks on the visitors. Before Guildford had touched the ball, Westcliff were 7-0 in front thanks to a try from Ewan Binneman, which Jack Jones converted.

A penalty from Jones made it 10-0 before an interception allowed the visitors to score their first try against the run of play.

Moments later, another mix-up in defence allowed Guildford to breach the home defence again and they were able to level the scores on the stroke of half-time with the resultant penalty.

The second half saw Guildford in the ascendancy, with Westcliff becoming more and more hesitant, finding no way through the blue defensive line.

Guildford took the lead with an opportunistic try from their speedy winger after more uncertainty within the Westcliff defence and another try put them 12 points clear. Westcliff showed patches of their early-season form and camped in the Guildford 22 before another interception try summed up Westcliff’s woe perfectly.

Westcliff: Brown, Reynolds, Stol, Smith R, Merrick, Jones, Brown, Morrant, Binneman, Scogings, Edwards, Vandermolen, Jobling, Smith J Replacements: Macintyre, Maloney & McKeith