Maidstone clinched safety from the final play of the match in a dramatic finish to the Kent 2 season on Saturday.

The hosts, needing to avoid defeat to stay up, trailed Westcombe Park 2nds 5-0 with time up.

Ben Nash stepped up to score a last-gasp try, converted by Elliott Kaul-Jones for a 7-5 victory, as Maidstone climbed out of the bottom two at Hastings & Bexhill’s expense.

“It was very stressful,” said director of rugby Steve Oram.

“We were so nervous. It was like the start of the season all over again.

“We were throwing the ball around when we didn’t need to and just trying a bit too hard and we kept turning the ball over.

“We were held up over the line once and knocked on over the line once, so it should have been won by half-time.

“It sounds weird but it’s actually a good thing that it meant so much to the lads to the extent they nearly panicked their way out of it. I’ve known plenty of games where people don’t care in the last game of the season.

“About five minutes before we scored, one of our lads was in under the posts with not much in front of him and he dropped the ball. I thought he was going to burst into tears.

“It was a case of ‘Come on, back on it’ and as it happened we turned the scrum over, kept the ball up there and eventually went over the line.

“As you can imagine, the crowd went wild. It was a great day for the club and it means we can keep our squad together and enhance it.

“I’ve been there when you’re relegated and you end up losing players.”

Maidstone struggled in the early weeks of the season after a summer rebuild as young players found their feet.

They improved as the months went on, including eye-catching wins over Sidcup and eventual champions Dover.

Survival went to the wire but they got the job done.

“It’s been a long season,” said Oram. “We’ve shown flashes of promise and we’ve also plumbed the depths at times.

“We’ve had some high points - beating Dover and Sidcup - and we’ve been on the end of some 50-0s but those 50-0s have got closer as the squad developed. There’s been a big improvement.”

Maidstone still have the Papa John’s Cup to look forward to, with their opening fixture scheduled for April 1.