Thurrock 42, Chelmsford 25

ANOTHER high-scoring match in the London & SE Division Regional 2 Anglia today (Saturday, 31 October) ended in a third London & SE Division Regional 2 win for Tees who werepressed hard by a resilient Chelmsford who belied their position at the foot of the table.

Thurrock took the lead in the tenth minute after a sustained spell of pressure set up by a surging, twisting run from Kodie Holloway. The ball went back and forth along the line before Thurrock were awarded a scrum from which no 8 George Morgan picked up and twisted and turned around the scrum and dived over. Jake Barrand missed the conversion but moments later when Thurrock were awarded a penalty just inside the Chelmsford half he delivered a fine strike to add three points.

He kept the scoreboard ticking over with another penalty, from much closer just before the 20 minute mark.

On the half hour Thurrock's Bill Bailey required crutches to leave the pitch after picking up an injury that clearly left him in a lot of pain - and later en-route to hospital for checks.

Soon after Chelmsford got themselves on the board when the ball was put down by Archie Kirby at the end of a driving maul. The conversion by Harry Dring was missed. Thurrock responded quickly with another penalty well struck from Barrand's left foot.

Barely another minute passed before Chelmsford raced down the right flank and George Wood touched down. Dring was unable to convert.

Jake Barrand proved the difference between the sides for much of the match.

Thurrock thought they had ended the first half with a try after winning a line-out, spinning the ball along the three-quarters and Shayden Williams cut back inside to dive over. Barrand delivered another superlative kick to add the extras.

However, there was still time for the visitors to respond and from the restart they put Thurrock under pressure and after forward pressure under the posts was repelled by Tees, the ball was sent wide where an unnamed player, wearing 22, went over. Dring's kick was missed and the ref called an end to an entertaining half with the score at 21-15.

Five minutes into the second half Chelmsford got within a point when sharp work from a line-out saw a maul created and Nick Hankin peeled off it to race through and score. The attempted conversion by Dring struck an upright

It took just a minute for Thurrock to respond as pressure from the restart saw Chelmsford spill possession and Shea Cotter took full advantage of a piece of slick play to slip his marker and race over. The solid boot of Barrand again delivered the extra points.

The end-to-end scoring continued on 55 minutes when Hankin again showed his eye for an opportunity and he raced in to score near the touchline, with Dring's kick again missing the mark.

In tit-for-tat fashion Thurrock were next to score when Jack Cowman crashed over on the next foray forwards. There was some doubt about whether Barrand's conversion had slipped inside the posts but the ref ruled it had and Thurrock were ten points clear.

Replacement Malachy Watts-Adams, who had replaced Bailey, then made his mark on the match, smashing through the visiting defence to score and once more Barrand slotted the conversion to complete the afternoon's scoring.

Kieron Sherman-Coulson was named Man of the Match for his strong all-round display, putting in the hard yards and big hits.

Gallant Chelmsford had the minimal consolation of getting a season's first point because of their five tries.

You can watch the match in full here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xf7NAZRM2o0

Stanford go down

In Counties 1 Essex Stanford-le-Hope's run of three successive wins came to an end at Maldon, where they went down 53-19.

The match was effectively put to bed by the hosts in the first half as they established a 30-0 lead by the break.

Thurrock Seconds' scheduled home Group 1 Automotive Essex Merit League Division 1 match against Bancroift was cancelled and given as an away walkover.

Thurrock did put a side together to fulfil a home friendly against Cuffley, who emerged 29–17 winners.