An early score from Tom Burman after good work from Nick Cook and Mikel Davies settled home team nerves with stand-off Nathan Wyman adding the conversion. And when Wyman added to his tally slotting a penalty on 10 minutes Combe had eased to a 10-0 lead.

But Barnes showed immediately why they are title contenders when centre Henry Joseph picked a great line around the halfway line to swerve through the home defence to register Barnes’ first try. The successful kick by Elliott Haydon made it 10-7. On the cusp of half-time cumulative Combe indiscipline resulted in a yellow card giving Barnes a sniff and Istok Totic got a touch at the back of a drive to make it 10-12.

Combe got that bit more physical in the second period using their heavy pack, but it still took 15 minutes until player of the match Najee Mundicha got the try at the back of a powerful maul. Wyman’s accuracy with the boot continued with a successful conversion giving Combe the lead at 17-12. That lead increased when Sam Fombo burst through the midfield and, after a number of subsequent heavy carries, prop Elliott Roofe got the score converted by Wyman.

With the clock ticking down, Barnes grabbed a losing bonus point with a try by James Crabtree converted by Elliott but the home side kept their cool and successfully closed the game out. The bonus point for Barnes means that they keep pressure on League leaders TJs who went down to defeat against Old Albanian.

Down the road to neighbours Sevenoaks next week and Combe will be looking to reverse the close defeat at Goddington Dene in the first half of the season.