Thurrock T-Birds 22, Richmond 12

T-BIRDS turned in a superb display to beat visiting Richmond, who went into Sunday's match (12 October) on top of the Championship South table.

The deciding factor was ultimately Thurrock's powerful forwards and hard-tackling - one of the Richmond coaches said afterwards that his side 'didn't know what hit them'.

It didn't look that way in the opening moments as Richmond were quick out of the traps and from an early lineout on the right, a rolling maul drove forward and the ball was touched down over the line. The conversion was missed.

Thurrock's response was immediate, and a a quickly taken tapped penalty saw them mount a sustained close range attack on the Richmond line which ultimately resulted in Elsie Burns diving over to level the scores, with the conversion again being missed.

The visitors then showed why they are in such a high position in the league with a sustained period of possession and ultimately their powerful No9 (unnamed on the teamsheet) set up a try-scoring opportunity with a powerful run, then in a subsequent phase cut inside, brushed off a couple of tackled and dived over.

This time the try was converted - but that was as good as it was going to get for Richmond.

Thurrock's defensive determination saw them keep a couple more visiting attacks at bay and on 35 minutes a superb run from Milly Thurman-Newell took the ball two thirds the length of the pitch.

Support arrived quickly and T-Birds kicked to the corner where Richmond were adjudged to have not thrown the ball in straight. T-Birds piled on the pressure through a couple of phases but were ultimately adjudged to have been held up with the ball over the line.

The drop-out came with the game clock already over 40 minutes but T-Birds were not to be denied and, from a scrum five metres out, they span the ball wide and Hannah Thurwell got the ball down in the corner. The conversion fell short and Thurrock went into the break just behind, but well in contention at 10-12.

Watch the full match via this link.

The second half was all about T-Birds' capacity for hard work and the ability to take chances.

It took them less than ten minutes to edge ahead with Burns grabbing her second try with an opportunistic pick and dive forwards from close range after Thurrock forced a series of penalties and restarts on the visitors' line.

Again, the conversion fell short but T-Birds had the bit between their teeth.

Richmond had plenty of the ball and opportunities to score, but T-Birds were resilient in defence and set up a wall of steel the visitors were unable to penetrate.

And all that defensive work paid dividends with 77 minutes of elapsed time when T-Birds were awarded a penalty in front of the posts. The option was there for an almost certain three points, but Thurman-Newall was sharp-eye and spotted a gap as Richmond relaxed and she took a quick tap and surged through it for the five points.

This time Jessica Pettafor added the extras and T-Birds were home and hosed for a famous victory.

Jade Wong was player of the match sponsored by Brian Bearham, with awards for pick of the forwards and backs going to Burns and Ysobel Lush respectively.

T-Birds are next in action at Henley on Sunday, 26 October.