Chris Baine's injury-time try earned Sheppey their third Kent 1 victory of the season on Saturday, a 20-16 success at Vigo.

And, with games coming up against fellow strugglers Erith (February 13) and HSBC (February 20), Sheppey know they could move out of the bottom two with victories in both those matches.

Head coach Frank Davis said: "It’s in our hands now and it’s something that we are well capable of. We have lost a lot of close matches this season and so it was nice to win one on Saturday, although it was a patchy performance which in a way reflected the state of the pitch.

"It was rock hard in some places and muddy in other parts but credit to the players, they stuck at it for the full 80 minutes and got their reward."

Vigo, who had won 18-15 at Sheppey in October, went 3-0 in front when Dave Winstone slotted a penalty. But an attempted clearance kick by the home side was charged down and fly-half Ethan Roach plunged on to the loose ball to give Sheppey the lead. Winstone kicked another penalty to make it 6-5, before Bradley Box’s penalty put Sheppey 8-6 in front at the break.

Kicking downhill in the second half, Vigo looked well placed to complete the double over the Islanders and another Winstone penalty put them back in front 9-8.

But the home side then made a serious blunder. Another Box penalty dropped short but as Vigo stood watching, Craig Rowbotham was first to the ball for the softest of tries which Box converted to put Sheppey 13-9 in front.

Once again, Vigo fought back when superb handling set up a try for Ben Paget, with Winstone converting, to put the home side 16-13 ahead.

But Sheppey were determined this was going to be their day, and in the closing seconds, the pack combined for one more big push to drive Baine over for a touchdown, converted by Box.