National 2 South

Tonbridge Juddians 68, Taunton Titans 29

TAUNTON Titans’ unbeaten start to the season was emphatically ended by Tonbridge Juddians on a tough afternoon for the visitors in Kent.

After conceding the first try of the afternoon to Murray Galbraith-Lowe, Taunton hit back with a Gary Kingdom penalty and then took the lead when Oli Down sprinted in from 40 metres out down the right wing.

Kingdom’s excellent conversion took the score to 10-7 but that was about as good as it got for Taunton as the remainder of the half went firmly in the hosts’ favour.

Matt Walsh’s converted try put Tonbridge back in front and by half-time it was 33-10 as the Juddians crossed five times in all, with Charlie Williams’ yellow card and an injury to Freddie Fraser not helping the visiting cause.

The second half began as the first had ended, with Galbraith-Lowe completing his hat-trick before Jack Nay’s second try of the game stretched the home side’s advantage to 47-10.

Isaac Dalton powered over to add to Taunton’s tally, with Kingdom converting, but Toby May’s try led the hosts past their half century on what was becoming a chastening afternoon for the Titans.

Barrie-John Chapman touched down for Taunton’s third try, again converted, but their defence was then breached on two more occasions as the score moved to 68-24.

All that was left for the Titans to do was try and achieve a try bonus point, and they did so in the closing stages when Dalton went over for his second try of the game.

Tonbridge remain top of the table after their fifth straight win while it may feel a long journey home for Taunton, who were expecting a tough test but perhaps not such a convincing defeat – particularly after last weekend’s impressive win over Henley.

The Titans will now dust themselves down and look to get back to winning ways at home to Old Albanians next Saturday.