Bridgman: Gosport troops battled well

Though it was a fourth successive league defeat for the Blue & Golds Bridgman felt there were further signs of improvement.

He said: ‘Had we been a little better we might even have snatched it at the end.

‘Gravesend were out on their feet in the final 15 minutes and we suddenly found another gear.

‘There were holes everywhere in their defence and given another 10 minutes I am convinced we could have beaten them.

‘We were also a lot tighter defensively for long spells of the game.

‘One thing I can say about this team is they never give up.

‘They are prepared to battle through all the time and that is a quality you cannot coach.

‘There is a feeling we are moving forward.

‘We are not going to threaten at the top of the league but give it a couple more weeks we might make a few more people sit up and take notice.

‘Then we won’t be the easy targets some sides might think we are.’

Up until the 32nd minute all the Kent visitors managed to score was two penalties.

The home side also spurned a great opportunity to score the first try of the game.

Disappointingly, Gosport conceded two converted tries in the eight minutes before the break.

‘The scoreboard never lies but for a long time we were a lot closer than it suggested,’ said Bridgman.

Another try for the visitors within a minute of the restart was another big blow for Bridgman’s side.

However instead of crumbling, as in recent weeks, Gosport showed their character by hitting back with a well-planned Wes Dugan try, converted by his brother Wayne.

Gravesend added their fourth try in the 58th minute.

But the later stages belonged to the home side.

Rory Penfold finished off a good slick passing move by sailing in for a try.

And full-back Nick Gallimore marked his home debut with a blind-side try.

Bridgman will take a lot of positives from the way his team performed and he believes the hard work will pay off.

‘It was a much-improved performance again,’ he added.

‘The players can take a lot of heart from this

‘Unfortunately our line-out which has been solid in recent games went to pieces.

‘The tries we let in were soft ones and that is something we can work at stopping from happening .

‘We have to keep working hard at improving our game.’