CHARLIE Nicholls kicked a last-minute penalty as our Wildboys fended off a spirited Gosford All Blacks in a thrilling fixture at Stratfield Brake.

The home side fought back from 31-5 down after 50 minutes to level the Counties 1 Southern North contest and set up a tense finish.

But somehow our 3rd XV got out of jail, Nicholls holding his nerve to slot a penalty in the last play to ensure we maintained our 100 per cent record after eight games.

This latest victory means our Wildboys remain top of the table. We are level on points with Marlow, but a better points difference ensures we lead the way heading into November.

Pre-match injury and sickness ruled out Karl Crockford and George Hope respectively, so our Wildboys were forced into making late changes to the team.

It took three minutes for us to take the lead, with last season's club-wide top try-scorer Andrew Prosser opening his account for the campaign, breaking through following an attack on the blindside of a ruck for an unconverted try.

Gosford levelled the match after 29 minutes, thanks to a driving maul, but two tries in the space of three minutes ensured we led 17-5 at the break.

An interception in the middle of the field led to a quick break down the left and Prosser dived over for his second. Our third score quickly followed as a result of another break down the left, with a kick through by Harry Lowe resulting in Ben McIntosh popping the ball up for Sam Hick to score and convert his own try.

Within ten minutes of the second half, our Wildboys had extended their lead to 26 points. Rob Nichols produced a show-and-go from the ten-metre line and just had enough breath to cross the line - Hick adding the extras. The next score came after Dan Coulon broke through and quick ball got us near the line, leading to Gosford illegally stopping a try-scoring opportunity and a penalty try was awarded.

The home side quickly reduced the arrears to 10-31, thanks to an unconverted try and they went on to stage a comeback.

On 62 minutes, another converted try further cut the gap, before we had a man yellow-carded. By the 70th minute, Gosford were well back in the game with two converted tries levelling the match at 31-all.

There was still time for the match to go either way and somehow we got out of jail, with Nicholls' last-gasp penalty helping us to leave with a bonus-point victory.

Wildboys: Lowe, Chapman, Hick, Prosser, McIntosh, Smith, Coulon, Taylor, Inman, Collins, M Jones, Hitchcock, Nichols, Hackshaw, Williams.
Reps: Jones, Powell, Nicholls.