O’Brien pounces at the death to edge Ks closer to championship

With 30 minutes remaining, there was little sign of the drama to come as Kenilworth held a comfortable 40-28 lead.

However, their defensive frailties once again resurfaced to allow the home side to take a one-point lead deep into injury time before Harry O’Brien came up with the match-winning score.

First-half converted tries from Bobby Thompson, Stephen Todd, Jonny Cresswell and Tom Kendall gave Kenilworth a 28-21 interval lead and a crucial bonus point.

Dunlop’s supersized prop brought his side level after the break with a converted try, but parity was brief with Jonny Openshaw crossing for an unconverted score for Ks.

An excellent kick from O’Brien then caused havoc and created a close-range try for Gareth Renowden. Kendall’s conversion opened up a 12-point advantage but the match was back in the balance after a Dunlop score under the posts.

Kenilworth’s dominance in the scrum almost resulted in try for Renowden but the ball was lost on the line and Dunlop responded with a spell of pressure that yielded a further three points.

A tense five minutes saw both teams pressing and it was Kenilworth who cracked first, with backchat resulting in a penalty which was well converted from wide out to put Dunlop 41-40 up.

With the match deep into injury time, Kenilworth gained a penalty out wide.

Kendall fancied it but was overruled as his captain opted for the kick and lineout.

The ball was duly taken and driven towards the line but was held up, resulting in a five-metre scrum to Kenilworth.

After being dominant all day, the scrum was lost against the head and the Dunlop number ten only had to kick to touch to win the game.

However, Renowden and Openshaw combined to charge it down and O’Brien pounced on the loose ball for an unlikely match-winning try.