Second-placed Crows went in to the game having won seven of their eight previous matches, but failed to click into gear as their opponents secured a fourth win of the campaign.

The first half was an end-to-end affair complete with five tries, with Crowthorne edging ahead courtesy of scores from Alex Ter Kuile, George Watson and Jake Lovelock.

However, the visitors also squandered two glorious chances to secure a bonus point in the opening 40 minutes, and Shire Hall managed to stay in touch with two converted tries of their own through wing Harry Gyamfi and prop Matt Margot, with the second coming right on the stroke of half-time.

Leading 15-14 heading in to the second half, Crowthorne coach Karl Roberts urged his side to show greater accuracy in attack, while maintaining their brave defensive effort.

And the Crows secured a fourth try following a tremendous score which involved the entire side. Following an attacking line-out, half backs James Jarvis and Jay Gibson spread the ball and offloaded to captain Sam Short who cut back inside into contact.

Crows were able to recycle the ball from the resulting ruck and successfully moved it wide to the left, where wing Phil Derbyshire was hauled down short of the Berkshire Shire Hall try line.

However hooker Mark Russell was in the right place at the right time to collect his offload and barrelled over to extend the lead to six points. With a fourth consecutive attempted conversion missed, Crows led 20-14.

The home side were not done though, and fought back bravely to post a try of their own to cut the gap to a single point through Tim O’Sullivan.

And the Sonning Lane side grabbed a dramatic victory when a stunning breakaway score put them in front.

Shire Hall turned the ball over just five metres from their own line but managed to spread the ball wide via centres Matt Rowland and Rory Buckley before Gyamfi scored near the touchline. Another successful O’Sullivan kick added a gloss to the scoreline and confirmed an impressive win for the hosts.

The day was not a complete disaster for the promotion-chasing Crows as they picked up both try and losing bonus points, with lock Sam Lea named as their man-of-the-match, while Rich Clarke took the honours for Hall.

League leaders Risborough increased their lead over Crowthorne to four points following a 10-5 win against Farnham Royal, and the two sides face each other in a mouth-watering top-of-the-table clash at Cricket Field Grove this Saturday (2.15pm ko).