WESTCLIFF’S fight to avoid relegation from National Three London & SE will go to the very last day of the season, despite their fine 34-17 win at Chichester on Saturday.

Westcliff fought hard to secure a second successive victory.

But results elsewhere meant they remained ahead of the bottom three on points difference with just this weekend’s battle with second placed Barnes to come.

Westcliff went ahead with an early penalty from George Parmenter and the Chichester scrum was soon in disarray.

They were penalised on several occasions in quick succession and, when the referee's patience finally exhausted, a penalty try was awarded and duly converted by George Parmenter to make it 10-0.

After that, a long drawn-out fracas took place, leading to yellow cards for both sides but Westcliff’s defensive tackling held firm until a slightly fortuitous bounce saw the home winger in for a converted try.

However, Westcliff were not fazed by this and increased their lead further with a try from full-back Tom Argentieri, which Parmenter again converted.

In reply, a second try for Chichester cut the lead to five points at half time but Westcliff now had the benefit of the wind and the slope.

As a result, the second half saw Westcliff continuing to dominate both in the tight and the loose, with George Anderson-Brown outstanding in the line-out and further tries for Olly Jones and Sam Reynolds, his 21st of the season, saw the game turn almost into a rout.

Parmenter, who had an excellent day with the boot, duly added both conversions which led to Chichester becoming increasingly frustrated and bewildered.

They had four further players yellow-carded, one being turned into a red for a second offence and Westcliff at one stage found themselves playing against 12 men.

Under those circumstances, Westcliff might feel aggrieved at not having scored more, but five points were nonetheless assured and a last-minute try for Chichester could not take the gloss off the satisfaction of a second consecutive win against top-six opposition.

But Westcliff's delight at the final whistle was tempered by the news that both Amersham & Chiltern and Tring had recorded victories, meaning Saturday’s round of games will still decides who goes down.

Westcliff: Argentieri, O Jones, O'Brien, Mamea, Merrick, B Jones, Parmenter, Brown, Whiting, Binneman, Anderson-Brown, Barnett, Smith, Cosgrove, Reynolds.

Replacements: Morrant, Roberts & Dudman