SSE NATIONAL 3 (LSE)
CS Rugby 39 v 26 Thurrock
THEY say when things go wrong; they really do well that sums up Thurrock’s day on their visit to Chiswick. It started when Michael Thomas was involved in car accident on the way to the meet, which meant after scrambling a replacement they left over 35 minutes late, then they were faced with traffic hold ups, wrong ground and all in all arriving 10 minutes before kick-off. The referee was happy enough to delay the start for 10 minutes but was not happy with the clash of shirts that made, both sides being predominantly white.
Thurrock seem to settle the best and within 10 minutes had a lead of 6-3 thanks to the boot of Frankie Neale with two well taken penalties against a very bitterly cold wind and for half an hour it looked good for the visitors apart from losing Nick Cooper-Hicks with a dislocated shoulder a blow for player that has been in fine form all season. But it was the last 10 minutes of the half that the match was lost from a Thurrock perspective. Four tries in seven minutes just blew Thurrock away; gaps appeared for the CS backs who took full advantage of what was probably the worst period of play from a Thurrock 1st team for many seasons. 27-6 down Thurrock grabbed back some composure, and they still had time to pull a try back when Jake Barrand went over in the corner, the resultant conversion fell short into the wind and the referee blew for half time.
Thurrock now with the wind with them started the livelier and made the second half more of contest as they tried hard to get back into the game, but it was the home side against the run of play that extended their lead, but Thurrock bounced back with tries from Barrand and Joe Hardy to make the score 32-21. The home side were still under pressure but a visit into the Thurrock 22 ensured a score and they took the game away from the visitors to gain a 16 point lead with 20 minutes to go. Thurrock kept looking and finally scored a further try from Earl Gorman wide out to secure at least a bonus point on what was a dismal day for the visitors.
TEAM: Neale, Barrand, Gorman, Burcham, Hardy, Stanley, Cook, Jones, Carey, North, Ben Thomas, Cooper-Hicks, Timson, Russo Retigan
Rep; Loka, Bevan-Royston, Rudgeley
This Saturday Thurrock welcomes GUERNSEY to Oakfield. It is the first visit from the Channel Island club to Essex and due to flights the game will kick off at 2.30
