KENDAL stand-off Mike Scott turned from a sinner to a saint as he put over the vital drop-goal in the penultimate minute to snatch the narrowest of victories for Kendal and keep alive their hopes of avoiding the drop.

Scott had left Kendal a man short when he was sinbinned for a high tackle as this tense, scrappy encounter fought out on a bog of a pitch boiled up into an absorbing final quarter of an hour.

Newbury took avantage and Scott's counterpart Jo Clerpak slotted over the subsequent penalty and then another one five minutes later to edge his side an 11-9 lead which looked as if it might be enough after the sides cancelled out each other in long passages of midfield play.

But fortunes changed when Clerpak failed with a third kickable attempt seven minutes from time and Scott trotted back on the pitch.

As Kendal stormed forward towards the tryline in one final desperate assault for a match-winning score, Scott manoeuvred himself into position to take a pot at goal and had home spectators in a frenzy as the ball lobbed over the crossbar.

How valuable these two points prove to be will only be known in the final run-in, but for now they were priceless to give the Mint Bridge club hope of clawing their way above neighbours Wharfedale, now only two points above them and with the sides still to meet

Yet Kendal's performance never rose to the heights they have shown in defeat against superior opponents lately.

Passes were often met by stationary runners, who had to readjust on the greasy pitch as a mobile Newbury side harried highly effectively.

Fortunately, Newbury also made their fair share of mistakes and a couple of knock-ons in the closing stages allowed Kendal to mount that final charge forward that turned the game.

Kendal had been unable to make an early impact as they lost a string of lineout ball on their own throw and Newbury broke the deadlock in midfield when full back Steve Healey kicked out on the full after a good break.

Working ball away from the lineout, they made a successful thrust from a scrum when No. 8 Dave Lubans forced his way through a tackle attempt to slide over for an unconverted try.

Two minutes later, Scott clawed back three points with a 26-metre penalty in front of the posts awarded for offside.

Heartened by that success, Kendal drove good ball through the forwards and earned another penalty at the breakdown within Scott's range and he slotted it over to put them into a 6-5 lead.

Good possession for the next 10 minutes put Newbury under pressure although Kendal could not fashion an opening through the visitors' defence and when ball was moved wide from a line deep in the 22, Scott opted for a drop-goal and it scudded over.

Kendal showed resilience in defence to withstand a Newbury onslaught winning a lineout when it counted before Scott booted the ball towards the halfway line as they turned around with a 9-5 lead.

Newbury missed an early penalty opportunity to cut the arrears at the start of the second half as Clerpak was off target.

Instead Kendal imposed themselves again with two fine spells of driving play after Mark Bowman almost forced his way through the cover as they did everything but score.

In the end, Scott was swallowed up in a two-man tackle and Newbury won a penalty and were able to clear their lines.

Tackling much more strongly, Kendal were able to force errors from a Newbury side who were now chasing the game.

However, Scott's yellow card allowed the visitors to get back into the arugment with two successful penalties in five minutes putting them 11-9 ahead.

The third penalty would probably have done for Kendal but Clerpak who never looked confident kicking for goal failed to make a clean strike and Scott came back to atone for his indiscretion and confirm that there is nothing wrong with Kendal's appetite to battle all the way for survival.

February 14, 2003 10:30