LUCTONIANS kept their survival dreams alive into the final match with a last gasp bonus point try over Leicester Lions.

Just as the drop to National League 3 looked inevitable Charles Meredith unlocked the host's defence as they overturned a 21-12 half-time deficit with 10 unanswered points.

“We’re still going and it was a very dramatic finish but we worked our hearts out and got what we needed," said Luctonians head coach Ryan Watkins.

“It was a tense affair and they made it clear that they were there to play as their captain was retiring so wanted to give him a good send off.

“They (Leicester Lions) kept chipping away at the scoreboard and scored tries from our mistakes. In the second half we scored two tries and dug in there.

“If we stay up they aren’t that far in front of us, they have lost a few games and were determined to change that which made for a tough game.

“They defended very well and weren’t going to roll over and every point we had to earn. We feel we could have scored a few more points on Saturday if decisions had gone our way."

It was Leicester who took a second minute lead through Tainne Finn before a penalty try allowed the visitors to level four minutes later.

In an end-to-end encounter the hosts caught the Lucs' defence off guard with a quick penalty scored by Finn before Joshua Watkins powered over the try line in reply.

Leicester piled on the pressure before the break through Jonathan Boden's brace of penalties and a Simon Johnson try.

However, Watkins' side staged another remarkable come-back with Rob Crowley scoring a try with 20 minutes remaining. Pushing for the vital fourth try Luctonians stole a line-out to create a final chance scored by Meredith.