Kendal Men's First Team welcomed league leaders Golborne First Team to the Kirkbie Kendal School pitch for what was to be a tight match right up until the final seconds.

Kendal had a dream start and moved the ball quickly around the pitch.

Aaron Screen and Nick Davis were bossing the midfield and it only took a few minutes before the home side crafted their first chance of the game.

A swift series of passes found Andrew Melville on the left flank. He beat his man, drove down the wing and crossed hard into the D. Tom Taggart was in the perfect position to first control the furiously paced ball and then to slam it home to give The Greens the lead.

The game then became a much more even affair with each team taking it in turns to attack and defend with equal vigour. Both teams had chances, but it was the visitors who struck next with a strong finish. which left Kendal keeper Rob Cartwright no chance to make the save.

The second half continued to be keenly contested. Defenders Chris Woodman, Simon Millington and Matt Marston were all performing above and beyond against a pacy and skilful front line.

Golborne were then awarded a penalty corner, a chance which they converted well and Kendal found themselves temporarily down to ten men and losing by two goals to one with less than ten minutes left to play.

The hosts stayed calm, reset their formation and began to gain the upper hand.

The Kendal front men Liam Derome, Noah Ross and Liam Platt ran themselves into the ground to move the Golborne defenders around and create spaces which could be exploited.

John Stanworth then had the chance to unleash down the right wing and found Tom Taggart at the top of the visitors' D.

Man of the match Taggart calmly turned his marker and unleashed a thunderbolt of a strike into the top corner of the goal to bring the teams level with less than two minutes left on the clock.

A draw would probably have been a fair result for such a tightly contested match, but Kendal captain Aaron Screen was hungry for all three points.

Picking the ball up in the Golborne half Screen drove toward the visitorsgoal, beating several defenders on his way. With less than 30 seconds left to play the Kendal skipper then pulled left, drawing the keeper out of his goal and slipped a reverse-stick pass under an outstretched leg to Phil Conlin, who arrived at the back post to perform a diving finish and give The Greens the win.

Kendal’s resolve to win under such pressure sees them go second in the league, just one point behind the leaders. Kendal Men’s 1s are away at Kirkby Lonsdale Men’s 1s this coming weekend.