Injury-time try by hosts' captain hands Vannes their first defeat since October

Lavaur 13 Vannes 11: An injury-time try denied Vannes a sixth successive win and more importantly the chance to put some daylight between themselves and the chasing pack in Federale 1's Pool 3.

Vannes looked to have secured four valuable points against the team in fourth place, but after putting up a stern defence in the face of repeated late attacks from their hosts, captain Tristan Laffage finally found a way through the Vannes line two minutes past the 80 to make it 11-11.

Fellow Lavaur veteran Cedric Jalabert held his nerve to kick the winning points from 25 metres, and Vannes were forced to make the long journey north with only a point and a share of second place to show for their efforts.

The Bretons had played a perfect game for 81 minutes as well, Steeve Sargos's long kicks pinning their hosts in their own half during the first period. Our Fed1 favourites ended the half a man short - prop Carlos Muzzio saw yellow - and under siege, but negotiated five minutes of pressure, including three five-metre scrums - to turn round just 6-3 down.

Thomas Lebarillier had kicked Vannes' only points of the first half in response to two Jalabert penalties, and tied the scores on the hour to set up an exciting final quarter. On 69 minutes Vannes hooker Regis Loubery broke the deadlock, catching a tiring Lavaur defence off-guard at a five-metre line-out to exchange a short throw with No.8 Francois Bourdrel and score in the corner.

The touchline conversion proved too much for Lebarillier, and it was to prove costly. Lavaur, themselves now a man down and five points adrift, set up camp in the Vannes 22. They tried to drive their way over from five successive penalties but changed tactics on the sixth, and within two passes centre Laffage burst through a gap in the Breton defence and left Jalabert with the easy task of turning the draw into a last-gasp win.

"It's very frustrating after all the effort we put in over the 80 minutes," said Vannes coach Esteban Devich.

"But les Tarnais won fairly, I can say no more than that. During 'money-time', our bench felt that they could score the try that would win them the game.

"I'm rueing the missed conversion and the earlier missed penalty, they would have put us out of reach. But there's no use dwelling on it, we've won the odd match at the death ourselves.

"But we can't fault the players after an effort like that, and we can look ahead to the visit of Saint-Medard next Sunday with some confidence."

Second string: Lavaur 16 Vannes 12

Also in Pool 3: Langon 18 Saint-Junien 22, Colomiers 52 Saint-Medard 3, Saint-Nazaire 34 Morlaas 3, Saint-Jean-de-Luz 28 Hagetmau 14

Next up: Vannes vs Saint-Medard, Sunday January 29, Stade Jo-Courtel, Vannes.

When these two teams were first due to meet in week 8, it was a top-of-the-table clash. But heavy rain in Brittany meant the match was called off, and six weeks on, the two sit at opposite ends of Pool 3.

It's not wholly les Poudriers' fault: their week 9 match with Lavaur also fell foul of the elements, and their two matches in 2012 have resulted in defeats to top-five pair Langon and Colomiers; first Langon scraped a 15-12 win at Saint-Medard, then the runaway leaders recorded their biggest win of the season, scoring seven tries while beating Saint-Medard 52-3.

As a result the Bordeaux-based club travel to Vannes with only one win - a dour 6-3 victory over Saint-Junien - from their last five games, but knowing that two wins from their games in hand will make them play-off contenders once more.

It had all started so well too, with early away wins at Langon and Saint-Nazaire and victory over St-Jean-de-Luz putting Saint-Medard among the early play-off favouries, but les Poudriers - so called because the Bordeaux suburb of Saint-Médard-en-Jalles is the historic home of France's gunpowder industry - have struggled for tries, and their tally of three is the lowest of all 40 Fed1 clubs. Their points are more likely to come from the boot of full-back Jean-Baptiste Dion, and frankly if we could place odds on their score being divisible by three this weekend, we would.

For more on Saint-Medard and their year of top-flight glory, read our original week 8 preview

The news Fed-lines: Rumours of Colomiers' relative demise - based on two tryless wins - were greatly exaggerated as the Toulouse club extended their 100% record with a seven-try, 52-3 demolition of Saint-Medard. They are now 20 points clear of second place and a win in their next round two weeks from now could book their place in the play-offs with six games to spare. Who takes the other three spots from Pool 3 is anyone's guess, with just eight points separating second from ninth and every point counting - Saint-Nazaire, for instance, leapt from ninth to sixth with their 34-3 over bottom club Morlaas. Result of the week, though, goes to Saint-Junien, who pulled off a 22-18 win at third-placed Langon courtesy of two late penalties by Georgian fly-half Davit Kvirikashvili.

Lille fell to their second defeat of the season in Pool 1, former Narbonne outside-half Jeandre Fourie kicking the only points of the second half for Macon, who defended their 11-9 lead until the end to stay in touch with the five teams fighting for the two remaining play-off spots (assuming Lille and Massy continue their runaway form). Nevers remain out of the top four ahead of a trip to fifth-placed Bobigny following a 26-11 win over Nevers, Welsh centre Rhys Williams scoring his third try of the season for the Bourgogne side.

Bourg-en-Bresse extended their lead at the top of Pool 2, winning 29-13 at relegation-threatened Nimes while their nearest rivals Montauban suffered a surprise 25-20 loss at Romans. The result was all the more surprising considering the former Heineken Cup side led 20-9 after 53 minutes, only for a try by replacement fly-half Nelson Soares just a minute after he entered the field of play, and 11 points from the boot of winger Remy "Vide" Grenier to turn the match on its head. Castanet went like the clappers in their six-try win over Chateaurenard and opened up some space in third place.

A full house of scores wasn't enough for Valence d'Agen to steal a win at leaders Tyrosse in Pool 4, as the league's top points scorers relied on the boot of Paul Dubert to kick all 21 points in their late 21-19 victory. Second-placed Limoges closed the gap by a point with their four-try 35-10 win over Marmande, while Blagnac leapfrogged play-off likely lads Lourdes into fourth place when Mathieu Gratton kicked the winning penalty five minutes into injury time at Riberac. There was late drama for Lourdes too, Mathieu Pouey kicking his fifth penalty on 82 minutes to share the points with Oloron in their 15-all draw.

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Fédérale 1 Pool 3 table: