Blues' hit-and-miss display

Best and worst of Whitstable

Mal Graves admits he saw the best and the worst of Whitstable during their latest Shepherd Neame Kent 1 defeat away to Kings College Hospital on Saturday.

The Blues trained 21-0 after the opening quarter but had cut the gap to six points when they allowed their hosts a swift response which took the game away from them.

Graves felt his team had pit themselves in a good position to secure their third win on the season but admitted that ultimately they made too many basic handling errors.

The player-coach said: "In every other respect i couldn't ask for any more from the boys. They train well, they prepare in the right way but on the day we dropped far too many balls. There must have been six or seven occasions when the ball went to ground and it wasn't as if it was wet or cold.

"It's maybe a lack of concentration but it was frustrating because we won enough ball to won the game and it's not the first time that had happened this season."

King's opening burst led to three tries - all converted - but Whitstable rallied and cut the deficit just before half-time when an excellent lineout drive led to a try by Marc Harris.

The Blues took than momentum into the second half with Andy Newman and James Garland adding further unconverted tries to bring the score to 21-15 but the balance shifted when a poor clearance gave a KCH player the chance to chip ahead and score.

A penalty extended the home lead to 29-15 before they claimed their fifth try - which was converted - after another kick ahead.

Graves added: "Up front we did well, we were physical, we scrummaged well and the lineout was good but their three-quarters just looked far more comfortable in possession than ours."

Match report credit to KM group