Luctonians 15 points Hinckley 7.

LUCTONIANS scored 10 points in stoppage-time to clinch a nail-biting victory on a hot afternoon at Mortimer Park in Midlands 1.

The Herefordshire side trailed 7-5 with 80 minutes played but eventually broke Hinckley’s stubborn resistance in eight minutes of extra-time.

Brett Prior put Luctonians into the lead for the first time with a well-struck penalty in the first minute of stoppage-time.

And, with only seconds remaining, stand-in skipper Anthony Marfell crashed over after a series of forward drives had been repelled by the visitors’ defence.

Prior rounded off the scoring with the simple conversion and there was a collective sigh of relief from the home supporters when the final whistle was blown.

Luctonians played well below their best for the first hour of last Saturday’s match but showed a lot of character to pull off the win.

The defeat was harsh on newly-promoted Hinckley who showed battling qualities and strong tackling which will make them hard to beat.

Hinckley made a bright opening and Evan Morgan missed a 30-metre penalty attempt inside the first minute.

The Leicestershire outfit continued to dominate the early possession and took the lead in the third minute.

Jonny Steven set up John Eke to score a fine try despite a last-ditch tackle from Charlie Meredith.

Morgan added the conversion and Luctonians’ hopes of getting back into the match were hamstrung by their early failures in the line-out.

Luctonians were guilty of losing their first two line-outs and turning over good possession in promising attacking positions.

Still, Luctonians won a penalty seven minutes before the break but Prior dragged his long-range kick wide of the left-hand post.

Marfell thought he had crashed over in the 35th minute only for referee Craig Maxwell-Keys to judge that the stand-in captain was held up just short of the line.

Luctonians had several attacks before the interval and Prior struck a post with a long-range drop-goal on the stroke of half-time.

The home side were reduced to 14 men eight minutes into the second half when Marfell was shown a yellow card for a stamping offence.

Despite being a man down, Luctonians continued to have the better of the possession and territory.

Hinckley won a penalty during a rare attack in the 58th minute and, perhaps crucially, Morgan sent his kick wide from about 35 metres.

Luctonians finally registered their first points when Prior off-loaded the ball to Andy Garrod who sliced through the visiting defence.

Garrod then set up a forward assault and, with the big men piling in, Darren Brick dived over the Hinckley line for Luctonians’ first try in the 62nd minute.

Prior missed the conversion but, with the home side’s forward dominance beginning to tell, Hinckley started to tire.

Hinckley were penalised inside their own 22 and a Prior penalty edged Luctonians in front - 8-7 - in the 81st minute.

And the home side wrapped up their win in the eighth minute of stoppage time after sustained forward pressure on the Hinckley line.

Paul Hulland and Tim Breakwell were thwarted by last-ditch tackles before Marfell redeemed himself for his earlier indiscretion by darting over.

Prior added the conversion to complete Luctonians’ win but the home side know they will have to play better to keep their promotion rush on track.