Rams faltered to their second loss of the season on a windy day away at Tonbridge Juddians, as their 16 game win streak came to an end with the score at 25-19.

As 1st in the table met 3rd, it was a tight affair, but the home side came out flying after the break and ran away with the game.

Rams head coach Seb Reynolds took a practical approach to the defeat as he spoke after the game saying, “It was a very good performance from Tonbridge Juddians today. They were highly motivated to stay in the hunt and played some good rugby. We weren’t quite at the races this afternoon, this league is full of quality teams that want to perform week in week out and we dropped our level and allowed a top side to take the spoils. However, I was proud of the way we got the bonus point at the end. The players off the bench added real energy and provided good front foot ball. All in all though, credit must go to Tonbridge Juddians who thoroughly deserved the victory and I thought Will Robinson especially was outstanding for them. Our task now is to refocus as a group and prepare for a very tough side in Old Redcliffians.”

Tonbridge Juddians came out extremely motivated from kick off and dominated the early exchanges, but unable to break the Rams defence, the men from Tonbridge opted to kick from a penalty opportunity and they converted for the first points of the afternoon.

20 minutes in, with the Rams still unable to gain a foothold in the game, the home side further added to their lead as Robinson played a cross-field kick with pin point accuracy into the hands of Galbraith-Lowe who scored in the corner despite pressure from Corrigan.

Rams reacted well to this early setback, and with TJ’s Edwards receiving a yellow card, the men from Reading took advantage of their extra man as Vooght scored in the corner following a slick pass from Jones, and Tom Humberstone’s conversion brought the Rams within one point of their opponents.

From this point the Rams capitalised on the game’s momentum swing, as they drove to the line following a penalty line out, and after going through the phases Henderson powered over the line to give the away side the lead for the first time in the game.

With half time fast approaching, it was the Tonbridge Juddians who had the last laugh as they sneaked in one more penalty kick leaving the score at 11-12 in favour of the visitors.

The opening 20 minutes of the second half passed by in a state of stalemate until, arguably against the run of play, the men from Tonbridge came storming forward and through a combination of quick movement and excellent handling skills they found themselves back in the lead as May scored under the posts.

As the game entered its final ten minutes, and with tensions rising around the ground, the Rams were pushing for a try to bring them back in contention, but it was not to be as the Tonbridge Juddians stole a line out and countered whipping the ball wide on the overlap to score comfortably in the corner and kill off any hopes of a Rams victory.

The Rams were able to score one last try through Corrigan, and a Humberstone conversion earned the away side a losing bonus point, but it was only consolation as the referees whistle marked the celebrations for the Tonbridge Juddians as they emerged victorious.