Feb Hooking's late try gave Windermere Warriors a dramatic 41-39 victory over Vale of Lune at Dawes Meadow in their opening game of the season in the RFU Women's Challenge Series.
It crowned a remarkable fightback from the hosts, who had to recover from 39-22 down in conditions that were ideal for running rugby, with Ashley Gobbi crossing the whitewash five times for the Warriors.
The visitors got what turned out to be a try-fest up and running when their fly-half broke through to score under the posts before Windermere were off the mark thanks to Gobbi finishing in the corner after some clever work from Rachel Dyke.
Vale of Lune then opened up a 17-5 lead when their openside barged her way through two defenders to score before their centre sprinted half the length of the pitch for a superb individual effort.
A tap and go penalty from captain Holly Yates led to her squeezing through to momentarily bring the Warriors back into contention, only for the away side to score again through one of their props.
Miriam Fuller then set up Gobbi to round off the scoring of a frenetic first half before the winger completed her hat-trick early in the second half to reduce the gap to 24-22.
However, Vale of Lune seized control back and built up what looked like an unassailable lead when their lock went over after a spell of pressure and their prop struck again.
Vale's winger than extended the gap to 17 points by going through a gap, but Windermere refused to lie down and gave themselves hope when Gobbi went in under the posts for her fourth of the match.
Try number five for Gobbi then set up a grandstand finish, which came when pressure from the forwards led to Kerri Jackson putting Hooking under the posts, with Fuller's conversion snatching the win.
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