Tabard suffered defeat at the hands of fellow London League One North strugglers Woodford last weekend, going down 26-22 courtesy of a late penalty try.

Despite the wet pitch, both teams played attacking rugby and Tabard took the early lead thanks to a penalty from Jack Reilly.

However, Woodford soon fought back with their centre diving over for the try. Pete Hyett added the extras to give Woodford a 7-3 advantage.

Good work from the Tabard forwards from an attacking line out saw them camped on the Woodford try line and second row Sam Barrow picked up and drove over for an unconverted score.

Their lead was shortlived however as Woodford responded almost instantly with a strong forward surge which saw their second row touch down to put them 12-8 in front.

As the half drew to a close, Tabard enjoyed the majority of possession and another period of pressure on the Woodford line resulted in a try for flanker Tom Davies. Reilly converted to give Tabard a slender 15-12 advantage at the interval.

Woodford took the early initiative in the second period with a great driving line-out which resulted in a try for a second row forward, Hyatt added the extras.

The try of the game followed for Tabard. Full-back Elliot Hurrell gathered the ball in his own half and made a strong run before feeding Johnny Aguila.

He then offloaded to Jermaine Ijieh, who stormed in under the posts from 20m out. Reilly kicked the conversion and Tabard led 22-19 with 20 minutes left on the clock.

However, Woodford continued to pile on the pressure and, following a run from Stephan Eleftheriou, the Tabard hooker was judged to have deliberately killed the ball and was subsequently sin-binned.

Woodford made the most of their man advantage as they attacked the Tabard line.

After repeated infringements at the scrum, the referee awarded Woodford a penalty try. Hyatt added the conversion to give Woodford a 26-22 ahead with just minutes left to play.

Despite a last ditch attack from Tabard, Woodford’s defence held strong and they secured the victory and consigned Tabard to their 12th defeat of the season.

Tabard face second-placed Eton Manor this weekend in a match crucial to their survival hopes.