Mal Graves admits Whitstable’s hopes of a top-two finish in Kent 2 are all but over after promotion rivals Royal Bank of Scotland inflicted a first defeat of the season on leaders Old Gravesendians on Saturday.

That result, coupled with Whitstable’s narrow win at Faversham, left the Blues and RBS level on 85 points but the bankers have played one game less and boast a far better points difference.

The Blues still have two games to play but player-coach Graves admittted that promotion now looks beyond them.

He said: “RBS are in the box seat and it’s hard to imagine them slipping up now. A few weeks ago we had our destiny in our own hands but basically we blew it. It’s not been through any lack of effort but we just haven’t been ruthless enough over the course of the season. We drew at Bexley, lost at Lordswood and failed to take a bonus point in the games at Greenwich and Orpington. We should be putting 20 or 30 points on these teams but we haven’t been clincal enough.”

Whatever the outcome of the season, Graves plans to continue as Whitstable coach and believes most if not all of his squad will stay.

He added: “They’re a decent bunch and I can’t fault their commitment. They’re coachable and I enjoy the time I have with them. The good thing is that we have improved, we’re better than we were last season and hopefully we’ll be better again next season.”

Whitstable began superbly, capitalising on a sluggish start by the home side to score three tries in the opening 15 minutes through Bobby Powell, James Garland and Kieran Woolf .

That third score seemed to spark Faversham into life and impressive carries from Eddie Stott and Rhys McDermott brought the Castaways back into the game. With the home forwards now firing, the pressure eventually converted into points as McDermott bounced off two defenders to go over for Faversham’s first try. A spectacular crunching try-saving tackle from Tim Woolf further motivated the Castaways going into the half-time break.

The second half was a stop-start affair with tit-for-tat turnovers and frequent penalties meaning possession changed at almost every breakdown. Faversham’s Alex Mullany made an instant impact off the bench, carrying aggressively and bullying the defensive line backwards.

The standout moment of the half came from Billy Egleton as he showed a turn of pace to beat the opposing winger on the outside and cover the remaining 50 metres to the try line, putting Faversham into the lead for the first time, at 17-15.

A counter-attack was inevitable but Faversham held out successive assaults on their try line, with the visitors camped in their 22 for the best part of 15 minutes. With the Castaways down to 14 men, Whitstable opted to go wide to find space. As Kieran Woolf hugged the touchline, Faversham thought the Whitstable man had strayed into touch before crossing the try line, only for a touch-judge to keep his flag down and the referee to award the try.

A final attacking push from the Castaways eventually fell short as the referee judged them to have infringed at the scrum, leaving the home side agonisingly short of victory.

Match Report - Credit to KM Group