DINGS were made to dig deep to secure their fifth-straight National League Two West victory and, as a result, go top of the table. Their latest triumph brought to an end Leicester Lions' proud 18-match unbeaten home record that stretches back over a full calendar year. Needless to say, this was no easy task, and the final outcome was hanging in the balance until the last act of the game.

The Lions proved a formidable opponent and created enough opportunities throughout this enthralling and intense contest to have won the match. But Dings are a tough nut to crack these days, and a never-say-die attitude - especially in defence - got the visitors across the line.

The Lions opened the scoring on five-minutes with a penalty, but it was Dings that crossed the whitewash first. A switch of play was moved wide for wing Sol Taufa to dart over into the corner for an unconverted try. Crusaders got another score shortly after when a trademark driving line-out was dragged down illegally by the home side, prompting the referee to award a penalty try and open up a 12-3 lead for Dings.

But a neat blindside move from the home side resulted in an unconverted try in the corner to make it 12-8 to Crusaders at the interval. The high-tempo, big collision nature of the game continued after the break, with neither side giving an inch to the other. Dings extended their lead with their third try - this time outstanding flanker Anton Welling managed to step out of a tackle and dive over for a try converted by fly-half Harry Ascherl to nudge the visitors into a 19-8 lead with a quarter of the match to play.

The home side threw everything at Dings in the closing stages. They did manage to get over the Dings try line but a heroic last ditch tackle for No8 Chris Rovery managed to dislodge the ball from the attackers hands and it rolled dead. Lions did finish off their next attack, though, with a driving maul to give Dings a taste of their own medicine. The conversion was added to make it 19-15. The frantic final five-minutes saw both sides looking like they might find a decisive score - both had chances - both blew them due to the tremendous pressure heaped upon them by the opposition. But crucially, Dings ended up with possession in the final moments and were able to keep hold of the ball until it was time to kick it out to end the contest.

Elsewhere, Dings Knights romped to a 48-7 victory over Drybrook, while the Warriors won 24-15 at home to Kingswood.