MARCH Bears produced a grandstand finish on Saturday as Todd Woollard’s last-gasp try gave them a 31-24 victory over Newmarket Development XV.

The Bears started brightly at Elm Road Sports Field as Ben Brooks and Ben Pyle outpaced the visitors’ defence to crash over.

Fly-half Brooks nailed his second conversion attempt to put March 12-0 ahead but Newmarket hit back with three tries in the space of 20 minutes to surge into a 17-12 lead.

March levelled the scores when Tom Ratcliff went over but Newmarket once again responded with a converted try to go 24-17 ahead.

From the resulting kick-off, Bears flanker Jonathan Beavis caught the ball and powered past two tackles to score an impressive individual try. Brooks stroked over the conversion and the two sides went into half-time tied at 24-24.

The second half was less free-flowing but, with seconds remaining, Woollard powered over from close range for the winning try. Beavis kicked the conversion and March celebrated a memorable win,

The game was sponsored by Paul Wing from The Ship Inn, March.

The Bears host Cambourne Exiles on Saturday.