Tabard Ladies came within seconds of grabbing a creditable draw away to league leaders East London Ladies.
However, a penalty against the Radlett-based rugby club in the last play allowed the hosts to kick three points and steal a 17-14 victory in the London North Two clash.
Tabard arrived a player short in West Ham but despite East London having 20 players available players, league rules state the opposition has to match numbers meaning a 14 v 14 match.
East London opened the scoring with a converted try but Tabard responded with a converted score of their own, Caroline Bolton added the extras after Rachael Potter had crossed the whitewash.
The game swung back to East London with a second converted score but again Tabard refused to lie down.
Bolton, having ventured off her wing for the first time, charged through the middle and a hand-off and five missed tackles later she was under the posts for the score.
She kicked her own conversion to level things up once more.
All that was left was that heartbreaking moment to deny Tabard a valuable two points.
The defeat keeps Tabard in fifth position in the table.
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