Marlow suffered late heartbreak as they warmed up for this weekend’s County Cup final with a defeat against Royal Wootton Bassett.

Richard Kinsey’s men fell behind for the first time in the very last minute of the match when a converted try snatched victory from their grasp and replaced it with a 13-10 loss.

Marlow may take heart from their performance against one of the strongest sides in the Southern Counties North division, and victory in Saturday’s showpiece final against Buckingham at Riverwoods would certainly heal the scars of this defeat.

The match itself was a tale of two players as all the points were scored by Marlow’s Pete Lewis and Bassett’s David Hogg.

The Royals had won six of their seven league fixtures on home turf when they welcomed Marlow to Ballard’s Ash on Saturday, but that impressive record looked to be taking a turn for the worse as the visitors came out of the blocks quickest.

With 12 minutes on the clock Lewis broke through to score the game’s opening try before finding his range from the tee to convert his score and make it 7-0.

The home side had won their last six matches previously and they hit back when Hogg slotted a penalty through the posts to cut the deficit to four after 17 minutes.

Marlow’s form is rather more patchy with four wins and four defeats from their eight matches prior to the weekend but they showed their credentials by opening up a seven point half-time lead when Lewis kicked a penalty to make it 10-3 after 25 minutes.

The away team held firm at the beginning of the second half stifling their opponent’s threat before Hogg landed what was to prove a crucial penalty with 57 minutes played.

Marlow were clinging onto their 10-6 lead and looked likely to follow up a 17-5 win in the reverse fixture earlier in the season with another victory.

But, just as the clocked ticked over the 80 minute mark Hodd broke the visitor’s hearts as he crossed for Bassett’s only try of the game to make it 11-10.

He added the extras to put gloss on a win which leaves Marlow seventh in the table.

Kinsey’s team will need to dust themselves down and come back strong on Saturday when they play Buckingham in the County Cup final.