Workington were dumped out of the Cumbria Vase when Egremont snatched victory in the closing seconds of an absorbing preliminary round tie at The Ellis.

The Zebras had fought back from being 19-5 behind to lead 27-26 after landing a penalty one minute from time.

From the restart, Egremont launched one last wave of attack and with the seconds ticking away, they delivered the knock-out blow with a try in the corner from Aaron Burns.

Egremont had dominated proceedings at the start and, on 10 minutes, the visitors managed to carve open the home defence to score the opening try by Jordan Crickett which Billy Thompson converted.

Workington responded well and enjoyed extensive pressure which was rewarded on the half-hour mark with an unconverted try as Jack Todhunter found space before powering his way over.

However, four minutes later, Egremont won a line-out and took advantage of pedestrian marking to cruise home and increase their lead with a try from Jimmy Temple, again converted by Thompson for a 14-5 interval lead.

Two minutes into an eventful second half, the visitors went further ahead with a stunning solo try from halfway by debutant Burns but, from then on, the lead was to change five times.

Workington needed to answer quickly and they did. A hopeful punt was chased by Bede O’Connor who outpaced his rival to scoop up the ball and score. Sam Robinson converted.

The momentum was with the Zebras and, on 65 minutes, they drew level after the tireless Scott Campbell finished off a neat passage of play to pull clear and touch down in the corner. This time John McCrickerd converted.

Five minutes later, they took the lead for the first time when another sequence of swift attacks culminated with man-of-the-match Todhunter racing clear to grab his second unconverted try.

On 76 minutes, Egremont seemed to have delivered the knock-out punch as they sprinted clear and Sam Agnew scored under the posts for Thompson to convert.

A minute from time, Workington took the chance for a penalty just inside their half and, to rousing home cheers, McCrickerd was on target to put the Zebras one point ahead.

But the fifth and final lead change was decisive as Egremont got away to snatch victory with the try from Burns in the corner.

The two sides meet on Saturday at Egremont in Cumbria League Two action while, in the next round of the League Cup, Egremont will be away to Moresby.

Whitehaven beat Upper Eden in the final last season to win the Cumbria League Cup, and they were paired together again in the preliminary round.

It was as tight as the final with Whitehaven emerging winners, this time by 14-12 with Stephen McConnell landing his third penalty to snatch victory.

Winger Todd Woods scored their only try.