LUTON 18
THURROCK 22
Luton 18 v 22 Thurrock
LUTON were left devastated after losing to Thurrock 18 – 22 in a game that went right down to the wire. The Newlands Road side were ever so close to ending their losing streak as they conceded a last-minute try in their London One North tie and remain bottom of the table. The scoring opened up in the sixth minute after the ball was passed out wide to and Jake Barrand went on fine 50 metre run who sprinted past the try line to put Thurrock 5-0 ahead.
Â
The hosts came very close to bringing some points back after Rick Hobbs narrowly missed two penalties, one of which hit the post. It was the half-hour mark that Luton were awarded another penalty one of many strange decisions for hands in a ruck and this time Hobbs had no trouble kicking it through the upright to end the first half 3-5.
Luton started the second half well as they had Thurrock on the back foot, they controversially awarded a try in the 49th minute after Kerr kicked the ball out wide to Davies was perceived to have grounded the ball to put his team ahead 8-5, the ball was blatantly dropped and this was the start of some more inconsistent and frustrating refereeing decisions.
Thurrock seemed to get back into the game following that try, and were awarded a penalty for offside which debutant Tim Blundell scored with ease to draw level. Thurrock were getting the upper hand, but Robert Povey intercepted a Thurrock pass in the 59th minute and went on a spectacular 50-metre run to place the ball right under the posts, the try scorer kicking the extras too.
However, Thurrock responded well and equalised again in the 63rd minute, getting over through Jarrett Crouch, whose storming 40 metre run ended in a try under the posts with Blundell converting. The home side went back ahead after receiving a penalty for a high tackle, Robert Povey scoring it to make the score 18-15 with ten minutes to go. Luton belied their table position and now looking to hold onto their lead, but Thurrock just continued with a barrage of attacks and in the last minute Jake Barrand joined the forwards and scored wide out, Blundell converting in very tricky conditions to end the match 18-22
Thurrock showed plenty of character in this performance although not their best and many injuries they dug deep and proved to all they are in with a fighting chance to get promoted.
