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Barking hosted London Scottish for the NL1 decider to determine who will be in the Championship next season.


With seconds to go, Barking (in red) were 13-10 up.


These are the final moments of the game.


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Spoilers (Click grey bit to read)

[spoiler]

http://www.londonscottish.com/rugby/1608.php

Match Report By Ian Aitken

 London Scottish snatched  victory from the jaws of defeat yesterday to win 13 -17 in the winner  takes all National League One ***le decider at Goersbrook. Full credit  to Barking who performed superbly throughout this match and only an  unforced error by the Barking backs in the closing minutes of the game  allowed David Howells to intercept a wayward pass and race 90m down the  pitch to score between the posts and secure the victory.

 London Scottish kicked off at a  packed Goersbrook ground with an estimated crowd of somewhere between  2/3000 in attendance on an overcast day with a slight breeze blowing  across the pitch. Barking knocked on from the kick off and Scottish  placed the Barking defence under pressure. At a subsequent ruck, Barking  were penalised and Scottish kicked to the corner rather than taking the  three points which would have been on offer. At the line out Scottish  caught the ball and drove towards the Barking line. The ball was  recycled a couple of times with flanker Calder emerging with the ball,  who had spun out of the tackle to score just to the right of the posts.  Fly half Ratford on his return to his old stomping ground added the  extras to give Scottish an ideal start to the match, putting them 0 - 7  up. Barking was awarded a penalty on the 14th minute when Scottish were  penalised for not rolling away from the ruck. Barking's prolific penalty  taker full back Armstrong missed with his first attempt, with the ball  drifting away to the left of the posts. Shortly afterwards Barking made a  good break into the Scottish half, but knocked on at the ruck. At the  scrum Scottish were penalised for collapsing the scrum and Armstrong  coolly stroked over the penalty to reduce the arrears to 3 - 7. The  Scottish defence, especially in the forwards was now being stretched.  Barking was adopting a forwards focused game and was achieving success  in this area of the game.

 Barking began to play the game deep in the Scottish 22m and were  awarded a penalty try on the 25th minute of the game after Scottish were  penalised a number of times beneath the posts by the referee. Armstrong  converted to leave the score all square. The remainder of the half was  played equally in both halves of the pitch as both sides attempted to  exert dominance. It was clear that Barking had done their homework on  Scottish and tried to play the game down the middle of the park. Every  time Scottish moved the ball out to their backs, each Scottish backs  player was immediately tackled by two home defenders to neutralise the  potent threat offered by the Scottish backs. As the first half was  coming to a close Scottish made one final push up the field into the  Barking 22m. Barking were penalised just outside the 22m when one their  players failed to release the player at the tackle. As an omen of things  to come, Ratford converted the penalty with the last kick of the half  to put Scottish 10 - 7 up as the teams headed for their well earned half  time break.

 The second half turned out to be a mirror of the first, with Barking  playing a forwards dominating style. Scottish began to make a number of  unforced errors, such as failing to take a number of "up and unders,"  together with knocking the ball on when they were under pressure from  oncoming Barking attackers. Barking restored parity in the scores on the  42nd minute when Armstrong converted a penalty from just outside the  Scottish 22m. Barking from this point on took a firm grip and hold of  the game and kept the Scottish defence constantly under pressure. The  pressure finally paid off on the 51st minute when Barking took the lead  in the match for the first time. Another Armstrong penalty, pushed  Barking into the driving seat as they led 13 - 10. The home side took  the game deep into Scottish territory and appeared to be closing out the  game.

 The Scottish cause was further dented in the closing minutes of the  half when replacement second row Karonias was yellow carded on the 76th  minute deep in the Scottish 22m for an infringement at a line out.  Barking opted to take a scrum from the penalty, which they won  possession and moved the ball through the backs as they looked for the  finish off the game in style. Fortunately for Scottish, the Barking  backs made a wayward pass and winger Howells gleefully pounced on the  ball and put on the after burners to race away and score between the  posts, leaving the Barking defence in his wake. Ratford converted again  with the last kick of the second half to leave Scottish with an amazing  13 - 17 victory.

 Cue scenes of mass celebration, as the hordes of Scottish supporters  raced onto the pitch to celebrate with the players, coaching staff and  management team. All the hard work this season by the players had  finally paid off. Everyone will understandably focus on the Howells  interception try that sealed this fantastic win. For me a league ***le  is decided over the complete length of the season and a number of games  will stand out in my mind as key turning points. At its lowest point it  must have been the away heavy early season defeat by Rosslyn Park. After  this game many wrote off Scottish's chances, however the team slowly  but surely found that inner belief which all champions possess as they  went on their remarkable 27 match winning sequence. During this sequence  a number of games stand out; the last minute drop goal in the home game  against Tynedale, the remarkable resolute defence and tackling in the  away match at Redruth when Scottish went down to 13 players, the "bounce  back" qualities shown by the team at Coventry when they had to come  back from behind. No doubt there will be many more.

 A massive thank you to the fantastic turnout by the Scottish  supporters yesterday. It was truly an outstanding effort by each and  every one of you cheering on the team. The number of kilted supporters  was amazing and to each and every one of you, you made the day such a  success and to a certain extent it felt like a Scottish home match.  Finally, as in all head to head deciders such as in yesterday's match,  there sadly has to be a loser and full respect to Barking for your  monumental efforts throughout this season.

 Signing off for a well earned close season break and look forward to  seeing you all in the Championship. Yes, you did read that correctly and  how good does that sound? London Scottish will be mixing it with the  big boys next season. Com'on you Scottish!

 The away supporters Man of the Match award was presented to Lewis Calder.[/spoiler]


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