Croydon 8 Kingston 14

Kingston continued their unbeaten run with a hard-fought away against Croydon.

In a very tight game, the visitors struggled to get any real continuity or dominance as key areas of their usual strong game parts failed to function.

Early exchanges found Kingston in the opposition half early on but at cost, losing winger Nathan Brown to a hamstring injury.

Subsequently, Croydon conceded a penalty that allowed Larry Weeks to step up give Kingston an early lead.

Again Kingston round themselves in Croydon's half and another infringement gave Weeks a second opportunity, extending Kingston's lead to 6-0.

The next period really saw the two teams cancel each other out in a number of midfield exchanges, with Kingston looking content to defend their lead.

A visit to the Kingston half by Croydon and a subsequent infringement allowed Croydon to slot a penalty to reduce the deficit.

Five minutes before the break, Kingston pro, Russell Penton went down with an injury and the game had to be stopped while he was stretchered off.

This resulted in a reshuffle, with the number eight Damien Cunningham moving to prop forward.

After the break, Kingston continued to be content on defending and visits to the opposition half were rare.

With 12 minutes to go, after a series of phases, Croydon managed to cross the Kingston line with a try in the corner, giving them an 8-6 lead.

This appeared to be the wake call the Kingston team required and they begun to step it up a gear.

Shortly afterwards, Kingston's pressure lead to Croydon conceding a penalty that Weeks again slotted to put Kingston back in front with eight minutes remaining.

The game was then secured in the final moments with some excellent pressure play, led to a chip over the top by Joe Best which he duly collected and was then passed through a series of hands for Gary Sherriff to score in the corner to extend the lead to 8-14.

With two minutes remaining Kingston closed the game down to come away with another good away win.

Man of the match was handed to Richard Marsden this week after a tireless effort was put in by the big man through out the fixture.