LUCTONIANS hero Joe Doyle said he did not know whether he would fit in at Mortimer Park.

The full-back, who scored a dramatic late try against Leicester Lions last Saturday that secured Lucs' stay in National League 2 North, joined the Mortimer Park club from near neighbours Ludlow at the start of the season.

But he said he was delighted that it worked out and cannot wait for next season to start.

"I had massive reservations about coming, but it's like 15 brothers out on the pitch," said Doyle.

"It's been incredible playing with the likes of Chris Jaques, Will Burton, Anthony Marfell, it's been outstanding.

"I didn't know whether I would fit in and get to the standard that I wanted to.

"I would like to think that I have surpassed that and fitted in quite well."

Doyle said he noticed the improved standard of rugby straight away.

"It's quicker and faster, harder and the physicality showed against Leicester, shown by the tackles they made," said Doyle.

"Matt Hackley and Sam Jones were incredible and put their bodies on the line.

"I can't fault anybody."

A season best crowd of ??? roared Luctonians on to victory, knowing that a win would guarantee survival.

Will Burton said that the supporters were superb.

"The nerves were kicking in a bit, but the boys came strong and that shows that the team is about," he said.

"It was a very late try, but it was just good to get the win and is what we deserve over these last two months."

Two penalties from Geraint Langdon, with the second on a stroke of half-time, took Lucs into the interval 6-5 ahead after George Prince converted a ??? try for Leicester Lions.

But it was always going to be an edgy game, with Birmingham & Solihull and Hull, two of the sides occupying the last two relegation places going into the game, ready to pounce on a Luctonians loss.

Luctonians director of rugby Alex Davidson said he knew that Birmingham were beating Otley at half-time, while Hull were drawing against Preston Grasshoppers.

"That would have left us needing a draw at least, but you can't aim for a draw and it had to be a win," said Davidson.

"Our pressure had told, eventually the referee went to his pocket, which I'm sure he was avoiding to do in the last game of the season.

"But he eventually rewarded our pressure and their constant infringement.

"I think that had about 11 penalties for the same offence and eventually he went to his pocket.

"That just gave us the space in the end to go over for a try."

Davidson added that the players "went off script" during the game, but was understandable due to what was at stake.

"It was like a cup final," said Davidson.

"We had our largest crowd of the season, the expectation was there, so the boys struggled a little bit.

"We didn't use the wind in the first half as we would have wished and didn't get the scores on the board.

"But to get the control in the last 20 minutes to win it was excellent."

A win seemed to be Lucs' for the taking when Langdon kicked over another penalty shortly into the second half.

But Leicester never made it easy for the home side and grabbed a second try on the hour mark by ???, which Prince converted.

That try was scored at about the same time that Birmingham grabbed their fourth against Otley, meaning that the Bees had secured a try bonus point.

Unless Lucs won their game, they would have been relegated, but with the crowd urging them on and the forwards driving them on, they managed to score the all important try to go 14-12 ahead.

Langdon missed the conversion, but it was immaterial as his side had already achieved what they set out to do.