Woodford edged a nail-biting match against Letchworth Garden City in London 1 North on Saturday as they won 18-17 to move further away from the relegation zone.

The home side are four places and 24 points behind Letchworth in the table but a spirited display held off a second-half comeback to claim the points.

A injury in the warm-up meant Woodford's John Dwight had to pull out of the starting line-up meaning Tom James came in and he delivered a man of the match performance for the hosts.

It didn't start well for Woodford however as Letchworth scored a try almost immediately from kick-off to lead 5-0 after four minutes.

The Highams side composed themselves and gradually grew into the contest, asserting dominance in the scrum where Letchworth were struggling to cope.

Almost midway through the first half, Pete Hyett made a break and his kick through was collected by Will Dignon who crossed the line to level the score at 5-5.

Soon after, Woodford took the lead as James snuffled up a Letchworth pass before sprinting 50 metres for a superb individual try to put the hosts 10-5 up at half-time.

The second half continued as the first had finished and just five minutes after the restart Woodford won a penalty which Hyett slotted home to extend the lead to 13-5.

The result looked to have been secured when moments later some swift passing in the back-line allowed Dignon to go over for his second try of the game. Hyett's conversion came back off the post but Woodford had a comfortable 18-5 lead.

Letchworth though came back strong, taking advantage of a Woodford sin-bin to score twice in quick succession.

One of the visitors' tries was successfully converted meaning the hosts' lead had been cut to a single point.

Letchworth piled on the pressure in the final ten minutes and could have won it had the away team used a penalty to kick for the posts.

Instead they opted for touch and Woodford's defence held firm for an important win.

Woodford are fourth from bottom of the table but 13 points ahead of Tabard below them.

They visit North Walsham on Saturday.

Eton Manor remain three points behind league leaders Westcliff after beating Brentwood 40-12 away from home on Saturday.

Manor play Westcliff on Saturday in what could well prove to be a title decider with just six league matches left to play.

Manor only beat Brentwood 3-0 in the reverse fixture earlier in the season so this was an obstacle they would have been relieved to overcome.

It proved to be comfortable too as the visitors took a 21-0 lead in the first 20 minutes and a 33-0 advantage into half-time.

Manor conceded two tries in the second period but added two more themselves to take their own tally to six for the afternoon.

Westcliff nearly slipped up away to Romford & Gidea Park but eventually came through 15-14 to set up a mouth-watering match at the Wilderness on Saturday.

A brilliant second-half display saw Chingford keep pace in the battle for fourth as they beat Diss 29-7.

The victory means Chingford currently occupy fourth spot on points difference but are level on points with both Colchester and Ruislip below them.

The score was level at 7-7 at half-time but 22 points without reply in the second half was more than enough to secure the win.

Chingford travel to third-placed Luton on Saturday hoping to close a nine-point gap on their opponents.