Battling Trojans came within a minute of a much-needed victory – losing their London 1 South home match with Beckenham 7-6 after dominating throughout.

It is the second time in three games that the Stoneham Lane side have lost by a single point.

A penalty in each half from Troy Cusack looked as if it was going to give new coach Dean Lewis and his courageous side a first win together.

But a slipped tackle from a scrum in Trojans’ own 22 saw Beckenham break and run in the only try of the game. The following conversion sealed the four-point win, leaving the home side with just a bonus point for their efforts.

Lewis said: “Their coach came up to me afterwards and said ‘I’m really sorry about that’.”

He added: “The patterns we are putting in place are beginning to work and the boys are believing in them.

“From one to 18 we played really well and we will be back in training on Tuesday and working on the few things that did not work and the things that did – there were far more positives than negatives.”

Meanwhile Gosport & Fareham took the opportunity to put more daylight between themselves and Trojans.

Head coach Scott Ashley was delighted with his side’s 25-10 home win over Cobham.

He said: “Every time someone was on the ball someone was there supporting him, ready to take the ball over. It was that team work and commitment and support that won today and I personally think we were a good ten points better than the result today.

“Every one of those 18 players stepped up to the mark and stood out.”

Wing Tom Lewis and prop Dai Whitehead scored first half tries for Gos with centre Wayne Dugan and replacement Dave Cleary adding one each after the break. Josh Whitehead converted one score and a penalty.