The Exiles made a disappointing start to their league campaign on Saturday, after they were forced to take the field with only 13 players for the second successive weekend.

With three players failing to show up for the game and with six players making their debuts for the Exiles, they were always going to struggle against a strong Bromley 2nds who, in their previous outing, had represented their first team against Cranbrook in the first round of the Kent Shield.

Playing one short in the pack, the Exiles were immediately under pressure at scrum-time as Bromley raced into a 32-0 half-time lead. The Exiles did create chances but were denied by strong Bromley defence.

It’s to their credit that despite being out-gunned in virtually every phase of the game, the Old Boys never gave up, conceding three tries in the second period.

To compound a miserable afternoon, however, the Exiles lost full-back Charlie Nagel and prop Tony Peach to injury and the referee took the sensible decision to end the game 10 minutes early with Elthamians down to just 11 players.

There were several brave performances in the OEs ranks with Neil Carter being the side’s best player on the day, but otherwise it was a tough day at the office for Evan Trevett, captaining the side for the first time.

“It knocked our confidence only having 13 players,” admitted Trevett, “and the effect of that disadvantage looked obvious immediately as their first try came from a miss-pass to their winger who scored unopposed.

“For a team that hasn't regularly played or trained with each other for a while, I thought we played quite well and for most of the game showed a lot of heart. However, there were obvious issues for us, mainly in defence. First up tackles were something that let us down at the start but our key players lead by example and put in some great performances which kept our spirits high.

“I was very impressed with the players sticking at it, and not giving up. If we’d had 15 players, the game would have been much more competitive. But a lot of work needs to be done if we want to play winning rugby.”

Exiles: Luke White, Ayrton Chambers, Tony Peach, Karl Roche, Vince Walker, Neil Carter, Evan Trevett, Will Cray, Ivor Mole, Liam Cato, Colby McMahon, Adam Pantelli, Charlie Nagel