The Stags claimed a notable National League 3 scalp at Duke's Meadows in beating East Grinstead. The " G Force" had not lost since January 2012 securing successive promotions and the Intermediate Cup at Twickenham along the way.

It was a fiercely competitive game, the foundations for the Stags' victory lying very much in their defence which was put to the severest test but very rarely found wanting. There was flair in attack also though with fly-half , Scott Hadden particularly elusive and finding gaps that he really had no right to.

The G Force were also well organised in defence too, however, as one might expect with ex-Irish international and once London Irish defence supremo, Justin Bishop as head coach. With their shading of possession but the Stags just that little bit more incisive , half time arrived with the Stags 6-0 ahead courtesy of two Hadden penalties.

The longer the Stags had their noses in front, the more the feeling grew that this could be one of those occasions when the ferocious underdog might just have his day. The dream bubble might have burst when a rare defensive error - you could count missed tackles on the fingers of one hand - after 67 minutes enabled the visitors to take a 7-6 lead.

Heads could have gone down but far from it. Three minutes later Hadden kicked a simple penalty to regain the lead and just minutes later the crucial score came when Stags' centre Anthony Dawes followed his natural scrum half instincts to find the hole.

The visitors grabbed a deserved bonus point with the last play of the game but the final whistle was then the cue for unaldterated jubilation on the one hand and an outbreak of monkey-off-the-back syndrome on the other.

CS Rugby 1863 scorers:

Try : Dawes
Con : Hadden
Pens : Hadden (3)