The gap at the top of National 3 London and South East grew wider after this Kent derby victory as runaway leaders Canterbury extended their unbeaten record to 20 games and went 19 points clear of their nearest rivals.

Statistically, then, a successful day for the city club but in terms of quality this match rates as one of their less accomplished performances. Although it produced a total of ten tries, seven of them scored by Canterbury, a catalogue of errors and misjudgements robbed the game of any shape or pattern

There were moments of individual flair and the city side were rarely in   danger of being caught after establishing a useful lead by half way.

However, each time they threatened to pull away they handed the initiative to Gravesend by making a pig’s ear of the restarts and leaking penalties.

In the early jousting the home side were twice in the lead, a Sam Hall penalty goal and a try from lock Jim Newman nullifying Peter Kelly’s catch and drive score, but it did not last long.

A swift break by scrum half Dave Marshall set up Kelly for his second touchdown after 16 minutes and in the second quarter a yellow card for Gravesend back row man Viliame Stevens brought an invitation which the city side were never going to refuse.

From the penalty awarded against Stevens his team mates were caught sleeping by a clever lineout ploy.  Wim Baars strolled over for the try and Martyn Beaumont’s second conversion pushed Canterbury ahead by 19-8 at the break.

Three minutes into the second half the lead was extended by seven as the backs worked a converted try between the posts for centre Paul Brown.

Then another of those lamentable restarts, where no one seemed able to claim the ball cleanly or take responsibility, gave the combative Gravesend forwards their chance.

They took it with alacrity through a close quarter try by Nathan Lines, converted by Hall, and the home side continued to enjoy plenty of possession as they fed off Canterbury’s errors.

It took a piece of individual brilliance from fly half Tom Best, who sidestepped and jinked his way through the home defence, to earn the city side greater breathing space and a second try from Brown, after a dropped ball gave Canterbury an attacking springboard, settled the issue.

A growing penalty count and a yellow card for Ricky Mackintosh paved the way for renewed Gravesend pressure and former Canterbury front rower Jamie Forsyth burrowed over.

But with the city pack in command of the scrums the home side had less to work with as the game spluttered to a close.

The closing minutes saw Juan Del Val intercept a pass to claim the final try, Beaumont pot his sixth conversion and Baars follow Mackintosh to the sin bin for a technical offence.

Canterbury at least managed to raise the biggest cheer of the day by completing a clean take at the restart.

Canterbury: M.Beaumont, R.Mackintosh, J.Del Val, P.Brown, M.Robinson (repl N.Woodbridge), T.Best, D.Marshall, J.Green (repl S.Goode), S.Rogers (repl T.Rogers), B.Massey, M.Lister, C.Hinkins, P.Kelly, W.Baars.