With six games to go Stevenage now know that their hopes of end-of-season glory rest in their own hands, but they weren't made to work too hard against a visiting side who are already safe in mid-table.
The hosts began brightly and George Boyd fired a warning inside the first minute when he ran at goal and shot wide of Craig Holloway's net.
Borough continued to apply the pressure and twice inside the opening 10 minutes Danny Bulman tried his luck, although twice he saw his shots clear the crossbar.
Gravesend proved unable to muster any attacking force and it took them half an hour before they managed their first shot, when Danny Slatter failed to hit the target and instead drove an effort across the face of the six-yard box.
Just when it seemed that Stevenage had stepped off the gas and that it may not be their day they took what proved to be a decisive lead.
Darryn Stamp was the provider when he flicked on a free-kick on 36 minutes and the lively Jon Nurse was the man who pounced and got to the ball first to flick over the head of Holloway and into the back of the net.
It was a goal which Stevenage just about deserved but when the second came just before the break it looked to be game over.
Stamp was again in the thick of the action when he saw a shot in the penalty area charged down and this time Nurse repaid the compliment when he played the rebound back into Stamp's path allowing the Boro marksman to drive home for a decisive second.
The second half was largely a non event as Stevenage controlled the game and opted not to push too many men forward.
Eric Obinna Chukwunyelu came on for Nurse on 54 minutes and twice had chances to extend the Stevenage lead, but the home side were not to be punished by a Gravesend team who could only muster two poor efforts from Mark Rawle and Ross Smith in the second half.
In a statistic which summed up this game Stevenage earned their first corner of the match with just two minutes to go, but despite not having territorial advantage they were always much too strong for the below par visitors.