THE BATTLE against the drop from London Division Two South went all the way to the final five minutes of the season as Gosport & Fareham survived - thanks to their win and Guildford's last-gasp triumph.
Gosport eased to a 21-0 victory over Tunbridge Wells but all the excitement was taking place 35 miles north as Dartfordians looked to be clinging on to the win that would have sunk Simon Burns's side.
Darts were leading 6-3 with time running out but fourth-placed Guildford ran in a converted try to ruin their day and, despite heavy pressure, the Kentish men could not find a way through in the closing moments, much to the delight of those in blue and gold.
Burns knew his side had been fortunate to beat the slide.
"We did what we needed to do and it's a great result to finish the season but we didn't know the Guildford score until we were linking up to clap Tunbridge off," he said.
"Someone shouted their result over to us and it was a great relief. We didn't want to have to rely on other people but we had to and luckily it has gone our way."
Gosport's win over Tunbridge Wells was so simple, many were asking whether the Kent side had shown up at all, given that they need a miracle to survive.
But the hosts still only gained one try through Ben Taylor and two Richard Lloyd penalties before the break while coach Sean Fanning grabbed a second to seal their win in the final ten minutes.
The only black mark on a day of muted 'celebration' was the dismissal of prop Paul Maxwell 20 seconds before the final whistle.
Attention now turns to next season's campaign where they will be looking for more consistency in selection.
"If we had gone down, people would have put it down to a bad season but I think our problem has been inconsistency," added Burns.
"You cannot make eight to ten changes every week and be competitive in a league like this," said Burns.
Portsmouth warmed up very nicely for their third crack at promotion through the play-offs next week by hammering Beckenham 50-13 in their final league clash.
But they were left to rue what could have been, as champions Barnes went down 31-7 to mid-table Lewes, leaving the Rugby Camp side just one point behind the Londoners.
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