Thurrock 18, Epping Upper Clapton 17

DESPITE having no supporters to cheer them on, Thurrock's first team produced another encouraging display to hold off the challenge from Epping Upper Clapton and maintain their momentum in the upper echelons of London and South East Essex Counties One.

However, the win was hard-fought and it took a late penalty for Tees to take the win – having looked comfortably in charge at half time.

Disciplinary breaches by Thurrock brought an edict from the RFU banning supporters for one match and it was played out behind closed doors, though it appeared a few Epping supporters were allowed in.

However, the match was live-streamed and can be watched here:

The sides were evenly matched, though Thurrock were in the attacking ascendancy for much of the opening 20 minutes. They weren't able to make the breakthrough though until a clever kick behind the backs by Darryl Worster opened up a gap and John Frear raced through to get on the end of it and run the ball over. Jake Barrand converted..

Five minutes later Thurrock stretched the lead as they fed the ball along the backs and Malachy Watts-Adams joined the line to feed the ball to Caolan Watts-Adams who shrugged off two attempted tackles before diving over out wide. This time the conversion missed.

It looked as if Thurrock might go on and run up a big score by Epping proved resolute in defence and the sides went into half time at 12-0.

The opening stages of the second half saw Thurrock still in the ascendency, but Epping began to grow in confidence and came close to a try in the corner after eight minutes. They were stopped just short but after Thurrock cleared their lines with a kick that didn't find touch, Epping ran it back with Connor Reynolds bursting through to go in under posts and the regulation conversion added the extras.

With momentum swinging, Clapton turned up the heat and Thurrock's indiscipline came to the fore again as they received three yellow cards within five minutes.

Against 12 players it seemed only a matter of time before Epping would score and just after the hour mark they did. A knock-on near the line gave Thurrock a five-metre scrum, but the Clapton pack — led by a dominant Bobby Grace — shoved the hosts off the ball. Scrum-half Archie Unstead pounced, darting in under the sticks to give Clapton a 14–12 lead after the conversion.

The final stages were nail-biting. With one man returned Thurrock began to rally and pressed Eppling back. The visitors built a strong defensive wall that repelled several waves of Thurrock attacks but they eventually gave away a penalty which Barrand converted from the right on the 22m line.

Epping were not done. They bounced back onto the attack and Thurrock conceded a penalty with elapsed time showing a minute to go and from wide on the left Epping delivered what looked a match-winning moment.

But there was to be one last twist. In the fifth minute of added time Thurrock were awarded a penalty when an Epping player failed to roll away as Tees pressed and Barrand slotted the angled kick over for what ultimately proved to be the winning points.

The drama wasn't quite over. With ten minutes added on, Epping were awarded a penalty wide on their right. They went for the three points, but agonisingly for the visitors the effort drifted wide and Thurrock were the ones cheering when the final whistle went before the match could be restarted.

If there is a concern in the Thurrock camp after the win, it will be the continuing lack of discipline. The club is already under the watchful eye of the RFu and the three additional yellow cards picked up will not have helped.