Worthing 46 Tonbridge Juddians 34: National League 2 East match report

By Adam Hookway

Tonbridge Juddians' winning run came to an end with a 46-34 National League 2 East defeat at Worthing.

Going into the game off the back of a four-match winning steak, Judds paid the price for a poor first half as the hosts ran in five tries to Judds' one.

Worthing, with the slope in their favour, quickly had the wind in their sails as they spun the ball wide left off their first lineout in TJ’s half and their pacey winger ran through to score a converted try.

TJs hit back with a Tom White penalty as the hosts went down to 14 men after a deliberate knock on, but the scoreboard continued to tick over in the hosts' favour. A penalty gave them a 10-3 lead before their second touchdown.

The visitors combined well to send Howard Packman sliding in for a try, but Worthing responded with two more to claim the bonus point before a fifth just before the break left Juddians with a mountain to climb.

That mountain got bigger when Worthing scored the first try of the second half, their winger again finding a gap to exploit for a 31-point advantage.

Tonbridge started the fightback with two tries in the next 10 minutes. Hugo Watson carried three defenders with him to within metres of the try line and Toby Freeman stretched over to score, then James Newey finished off some aggressive running by White and Duncan Tout in the backline to reduce the deficit to 19 points.

Perry Parker was next to cross the whitewash and TJs trailed by 12 points with 25 minutes left, but neither side could add to their tallies - until Worthing kicked to the corner to create a lineout drive that ended with a slick move in the backs and a converted try.

Tonbridge had the final say, with Joe Duffy driven over from a lineout on 15 metres, and