Only a point separated the sides at the interval so the first half was the sort of closely fought rugby you might expect from two sides that were close together near the top of the table. But Combe's superior fitness told more and more as the second half progressed and the last quarter they were rampant and it speaks well of TJ's commitment that they didn't go down more heavily.

TJ's had the edge in the early exchanges, particularly in the forwards, but Combe's defence is very sound these days and they defended their line magnificently until TJ's, following a five-metre line-out and quickly formed maul crossed with second-row Mase Leulunui being at the bottom of the pile. Dan Hawkes competently converted.

For the rest of the first half the spectators and supporters were treated to a display of good rugby from two sides not afraid to fling the ball around and run when they could and the close-quarter exchanges full of power and commitment.

In the 20th and 29th minutes Luke Giles was able to keep Combe in touch with two superb penalties from around the 10-metre line but with the last kick of the half TJ's had a penalty from a spot close to that selected for the conversion but with a boot curled a bit too much around the ball it went across the face of the goal. Had it gone over and everything else remained the same, which it wouldn't of course, TJ's would have got a bonus point to keep them level with Combe.

The second half was only shortly under-way when Combe's outside centre Tyron Childs from deep showed great strength, pace and power, to say nothing of the deft dummy to make it all the way to the line to finish off a Combe move full of running, sound passing and handling.

Combe were now in the lead for the first time but it only lasted seven minutes when the TJ's full-back Brett Hamlin came into the line with the Combe defence away at the races and anyone of three runners would have made it to the line for the softest of tries this campaign. When Dan Hawkes landed the conversion TJ's were again leading by the solitary point and they continued to do so until the 65th minute without offering any further real threat.

The superior fitness and strength of Combe was now evident to everyone and a series of forwards moves near the TJ's line resulted in a bizarre try when a hack forward as the scrum broke up rebounded off the shins of a defender behind their line into the waiting and grateful hands of Dale Bellinger and even if TJ's had had a tank in support I don't think it would have stopped the big man. It was between the posts so Luke Giles's conversion was a formality.

Three minutes later, with a rampant Combe in full cry, another Luke Giles penalty, to cap an exemplary display with the boot, stretched the lead to nine points with 12 minutes remaining and perhaps even a bonus point which Combe lead in the table by a distance!

It says a lot for TJ's tenacity that despite the pressure Combe were now exerting they couldn't break through at all in those last minutes.

Tonbridge Juddians will be disappointed following their showing in the encounter earlier in the season but Combe have made great strides since then both on and off the pitch and with powerful depth in their replacements are becoming a side to be reckoned with.

Combe's Team: Toby May; Trent Natrass, Ben Hough, Tyron Child, Niki Davies; Charlie Edwards, Luke Giles; Reece Conlon, Graeme Carson, Dale Bellinger; Tom Clarke, David Watkins; Angus Barton, Hamish Barton, Matt Foulds. James Snape, Chris Lewis, Nick Coles.

Reporter: Mike Attewell.