Pegasus Palmerians 7
Loughton 10
(Essex Two)

LOUGHTON eased their relegation worries with a win over the fellow strugglers.

In a tight game played in a strong wind the difference between these two sides was Dan Stavrinou who finally realised the potential his team-mates knew he had.

The visitors began the game facing into the wind and succumbed to some early Pegasus pressure by conceding a converted try.

Loughton dug in, however, and held firm for the remainder of the half to only trail 7-0 at the break.

From the restart and with the elements now in their favour the visitors pressurised the home line from the off and following a cheeky dummy run from prop Dave Jones, the gap opened up for Owen Sayers to ghost in under the posts.

Unbelievably Sayers missed the conversion and Loughton were still trailing.

But knowing what was at stake the visitors stepped up to the plate and having battered the home line, they were rewarded with a match winning try.

With Pegasus penalised for illegally slowing down the ball, Loughton took a quick tapped penalty and popped the ball to Stavrinou who came in from deep to secure a memorable score with just minute remaining on the clock.

The win proved enough to lift Loughton above Pegasus in the table and with events back in their own hands with just one game remaining.