Bishop’s Stortford beat Sale 22-19 with last kick of the match to keep National League 1 survival in their own hands

Tom Walker scored a penalty with the last kick of the match to give relegation-threatened Bishop’s Stortford a vital 22-19 win against Sale on Saturday and keep their League 1 survival in their own hands going into the season finale.

It was the only time in the game that the Silver Leys side led, having been 12-0 behind at half time and 19-12 down in the second half after drawing level.

A try by captain James Ayrton, converted by Walker, sandwiched between two tries from driving mauls, the second of which was converted, meant the sides were level at 19-19 approaching 80 minutes.

But when referee Alan Chandrachud awarded the hosts a penalty a few metres outside the Sale 22 on Stortford’s left, Walker stepped up to send a wind-assisted kick between the posts for victory.

Stortford’s joy was short-lived, however, as maximum 5-point wins for Taunton Titans and Leicester Lions means Marcus Cattell’s men are far from safe going into the last match of the season at Cinderford in a fortnight (April 27) as they can still finish in the bottom two and be relegated to National League 2.

Taunton moved off the bottom of the table with a 37-31 win over Cinderford that sees them leapfrog their Gloucestershire visitors, whose two bonus points in defeat mean they can still finish level on points with Stortford.

Stortford’s 4-point win means they are 11th with 51 points, Leicester – who beat Darlington Mowden Park 43-10 – are 12th with 50, Taunton 48 and Cinderford 46.

Next Saturday (April 20) is a rest week, and then it will be all eyes on Cinderford v Stortford, Blackheath v Taunton Titans and Sale v Leicester Lions.