Rochford Hundred gave their survival hopes a huge boost with a last-gasp 12-11 win at North Walsham.

Hundred seemed to be heading for defeat against their relegation rivals. But a penalty from Kit Branch in the dying seconds secured a vital victory which also saw Rochford surge out of the drop zone.

The match was very tight for the whole 80 minutes and full of high tension.

But the home side had a dream start when their winger caught the Rochford defence napping with a well-taken dash for the corner to put his side 5-0 up.

Branch reduced the arrears with a penalty kick after some Rochford pressure play and followed up a little later in the half with another well-hit penalty to take the lead.

This was short-lived though as North Walsham went ahead again with a penalty kick and reached half time 8-6 in front.

The game continued with both sides cancelling each other out before Branch slotted over his third penalty kick to regain the lead.

Rochford remained on top but were unable to extend their lead and close off the game and this situation stayed the same for the rest of the half.

With both sets of supporters on tenterhooks, the game went into the final minutes with Rochford pressed for a vital breakthrough, only for their attack to falter and North Walsham countered to take the ball right back into the Rochford half.

The home supporters realised that this was their team’s final chance, raised the vocal tempo and the home side responding with renewed effort.

Good forward pressure was rewarded with a penalty under the posts and their kicker made no mistake and with only seconds of play left they took a 11-9 lead.

It was heart-breaking stuff for Rochford but they took the kick-off knowing they had to keep the ball in play.

This was where the character of the side came to the fore as they controlled a resulting scrum and then went through a number of patient phases.

The pressure finally told on the home side and the referee awarded a penalty to the Essex outfit. It was not an easy kick but Branch struck the ball through the uprights.

The referee immediately blew the final whistle and that left Rochford’s first team manager Graham Pratt a happy man.

“In the great scheme of things, this was perhaps nothing special. But make no mistake, to us it was a massive result at a crucial time and a marvellous morale booster,” said Pratt.

“It also took us outside the danger zone where we must now keep ourselves and to take every point that comes their way.”

Rochford: Mark, Chivers, Coombe, Mott, Pearce, Needham, J Baker, A Chipper, Bracknell, Branch, Ashton A Needham, Stewart, Edwards, Prior.

Replacements: Corbet, Knowles & Levy.

>Thurrock’s lead at the top of the table has been cut to four points after their narrow 10-3 win at Diss.