Southend 26, Thurrock 12

THURROCK travelled to Warner's Bridge on Saturday hoping to complete the double over their old rivals, having prevailed earlier in the season in a tight affair.

And Saturday's match certainly lived up to expectations.

In spite of the commencement of the Six Nations Championship there was still a large crowd owing to a pre-match dinner organised by Southend legend, "Billy the Boot" Adams.

Thurrock were certainly the more comfortable in the early exchanges with Alex Jones and Dan Stone orchestrating affairs.

Debutant, Dan Libby, was bringing a real edge to the game and his powerful tackling and line-out prowess were exemplary.

Thurrock stormed into the Southend half and, after a long passage of play, wing Harry Reynolds scorched over in the corner.

Southend came back into the game, with half-backs Branch and Lloyd starting to control the midfield. Southend opened their account after some fine work from Sexton, but Thurrock were not to be denied and some fine ball retention enabled Ahmed Aminou to unshackle the defence , consolidating the lead.

The scrum was going much better, but line-out work was becoming less effective.

Southend took the opportunity to limit their expansiveness and were content to eke out a result. Thurrock restored their lead after a fine passage of play, but then had the initiative taken away after a yellow card left them with 14 players.

Southend played a hard, driving game and capitalised when in the "Red Zone". Dan Stone relieved the pressure with some fine kicking, while Alex Jones kicked a fifty/twenty-two! Indeed Stone made a searing break which must have led to a try had the fly-half been a little less altruistic ! The winger couldn't quite get on terms to deliver a "coup de grace" and the Southend pack did enough to hang on!

This is a tremendous Thurrock team in the making. At the weekend, people were predicting the death-knell of Welsh rugby after the humiliation against Ireland. However, when you have an injury situation to the tune of 700 caps, all that can be done is to build for the future and that is precisely what is happening at Oakfield. When this young team develops over the next few years it will become a serious force in South-East rugby.

On Saturday Thurrock entertain old rivals Norwich at Oakfield with a 2.30 kick -off.