Saffron Walden under-15s booked a place in the county cup final thanks to a try in the last minute against Shelford.
Walden showed some signs of rustiness, but were up for the challenge against a big Shelford squad.
Both teams boasted strong defences and the tie turned into an attritional battle, with Walden edging ahead late in the first half when Harry Vincent-West touched down in the corner.
Walden scored early in the second half too as another fine team move led to Morgan Evans going through a gap to score.
But Shelford came back strongly with a brace of tries to get back on level terms and set up a nailbiting finale.
Walden upped the tempo and won a penalty close to the line late on.
And instead of kicking for the posts, they took a quick tap and moved the ball wide for Finn Thomas to score the winner, as Beau Longaretti was named best forward on his birthday.
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