20 November 2009: Albi 24 Perpignan 23. The Top 14's bottom team turn the tables on the league leaders as man-of-the-match Kevin Boulogne kicks a last-minute penalty to pull off a shock win

Well that wasn't supposed to happen. Scrum-half Kevin Boulogne sealed Albi's second win of the season and capped a superb personal performance with a 79th minute penalty that defied a thrilling comeback from champions and league leaders Perpignan. Latest league table

Albi remain bottom of the table but will take some heart from their performance into the second half of the season, and while their bonus point means USAP are still honorary 'Champions of the Autumn', they'll see this as a waste of a chance to consolidate their top spot.

Jerome Porical had put the visitors ahead after 13 minutes with a simple 20-metre penalty, but three minutes later Boulogne tied the scores from 50 metres, and with a quarter of the game gone, Albi had taken the lead after a Boulogne attack was snuffed out only for USAP centre Jean-Philippe Grandclaude to hold onto the ball in the tackle. Boulogne kicked his second penalty to make it 6-3.

Play swung from one side to the other, first Albi having a good shout for a try turned down when full back Benjamin Lapeyre got a hand to Boulogne's kick-through, then Lapeyre saving Albi with a try-saving tackle on Christophe Manas. Boulogne was at the centre of the action a minute later, putting up a high ball which Dave Vainqueur caught and raced towards the line, only for Porical to force a knock-on from the winger.

The first half finally got the try it deserved two minutes before the interval, Boulogne winning a penalty with a strong tackle on Nicolas Durand, taking it quickly and feeding Dumitras. The outside-half was smothered by the Catalan defence, but Boulogne kept the ball alive, chipping through for flanker Laurent Baluc-Rittener to chase and ground inches from the dead ball line.

Boulogne missed a difficult penalty chance to make it 14-3 a minute into the second half, and Perpignan soon struck back, Olivier Olibeau winning a penalty, Durand taking it quickly and Porical racing over to score, converting his try to pull USAP back to within a point.

The visitors seemed to be getting the upper hand, hooker Marius Tincu bursting into the Albi 22 only for the move to break down. But USAP were soon down to 14 when Manas received a yellow card for elbowing Dumitras, and on 55 minutes Albi were 14-10 up when Boulogne kicked a 32 metre penalty.

It was soon 21-10, Boulogne again the architect, combining with No.8 Florent Fourcade at the back of the scrum and freeing Frederic Manca, who sidestepped his opposite number to cross for a try that Boulogne converted. It's a measure of how poor Albi's season has been that this was the first time this year that they've scored two tries in the same match.

That was the signal for a USAP comeback. From the restart, Farid Sid made a 50-metre break and spun the ball along the line to Julien Candelon, who was held up a metre from the Albi line. From the ruck, Durand fed lock Robins Tchale-Watchou who barged over to pull Perpignan back to within four points.

It was a one-point game on 66 minutes, Porical kicking his second penalty after USAP's powerful scrum forced a penalty, and when Candelon raced into Albi's half with six minutes on the clock, only an offside from Yogane Correa could stall the Catalans. Correa saw yellow, Porical converted the penalty to make it 23-21, and it looked as though the champions' comeback was complete.

But Albi had other ideas, and when USAP flanker Ovidiu Tonita made no effort to move away from the tackle area, referee Monsieur Bonhoure signalled an Albi penalty, and as coach Eric Bechu paced the touchline, Boulogne held his nerve and kicked the 30-metre penalty for a 24-23 lead.

But it wasn't over yet - USAP won the restart and a scrum 35 metres out. As the clock passed 80 minutes, the Catlans ran the ball wide only to hit a wall of yellow. As it came back inside, it hit M. Bounhoure and after a confused couple of seconds, the referee blew for full time.

"It's an achivement to beat the French champions," said Albi assistant coach Daniel Blach. "We defied all the predictions to win. The last scrum was horrible, we couldn't make a mistake. We thought it was all going to fall apart. I don't know if we saw the real Perpignan tonight, but we saw the real Albi. We couldn't have done more."