SURREY have retained the County Championship Shield after beating Cumbria 21-16 at Twickenham this afternoon (Sunday).
The Acorns came out on top in an edgy battle, with Dorking scrum half Will Crow coming on as a replacement to score the winning try midway through the second half.
Surrey had led 10-6 at half time after a controversial penalty try award four minutes before the break completed a dour first half contest, which was littered with errors and ill-discipline from both sides.
Neil Hallett had given Surrey an early lead with a penalty, but two penalties from Alistair Ledingham saw Cumbria take a 6-3 lead, prior to the penalty try award.
The duo then traded penalties early on in the second half, before the lead changed hands twice more with a try for each side.
First, Ledingham profited from a quickly taken penalty to force his way over for Cumbria, with the conversion putting them one point ahead, before Crow replied with a try of his own to restore Surrey's lead midway through the second period.
Hallett missed the seemingly simple conversion attempt, while both sides missed further penalty attempts as the game wore on.
But Hallett completed it late on for Surrey with another penalty as the Acorns recorded a third victory against Cumbria in three seasons, having previously beaten them twice at the semi-final stage in the last two seasons.
