National 2 South

Bury St Edmunds 22, Taunton Titans 24

TAUNTON Titans came from behind to take victory at Bury St Edmunds on their longest away trip of the season.

The visitors led for only the final five minutes but that was enough to take the points back to Somerset, Gary Kingdom's late penalty proving decisive in Suffolk.

Taunton began on the back foot after their 250-mile journey and were 10-0 down inside 20 minutes, Ben Leng's try breaking the deadlock before Cam Richie added the conversion and a penalty soon afterwards.

The visitors needed a foothold in the game and they got themselves on the board when flanker Jarrard Hayler went over, with Kingdom adding the extras to reduce the deficit to three.

St Edmunds increased their advantage before the interval, however, as Alex Stanley touched down in the corner leaving a conversion which proved slightly beyond reach, resulting in a 15-7 half-time lead for the hosts.

Taunton came out determined after the break and, after several catch and drives, eventually forced their way over with Max Woodward claiming the score.

Kingdom converted to make the score 15-14 but the Titans were again left with a mountain to climb when Alex Grey surged over for a try which was converted to open up the gap to eight points.

It was game on again when Connor Baker dotted down for the much-needed score to which Kingdom added the extras, and the experienced full-back then had the chance to win it when Taunton were awarded a penalty in the dying minutes.

Kingdom missed a similar opportunity in a narrow defeat at Canterbury in January but made no mistake on this occasion, slotting the three points to take the Titans into the lead for the first time in the match.

The visitors dominated possession in the time that remained to see out a valuable away victory which keeps them right in the mix for that coveted second spot.

Next week, Taunton travel to another of the sides in contention as they make the trip to Henley Hawks in a re-arranged fixture after the snow a fortnight ago.

Taunton Titans: Connor Baker, Chris Francis, Isaac Dalton; Barrie-John Chapman, Dan Ogden; Jarrard Hayler, Max Woodward, Sam Prior; Jacob Nash, Lewis Webb; Toby East, Nick Mason; James Keay, Aron Struminski, Gary Kingdom. Replacements: Andy Hamilton, Alfie Petch, Andy England, Sam Daly, Sam Brown.