Old Reigatian 29, Thurrock 17

THURROCK were unable to repeat the previous week's heroics when they gained a first London & South East Regional 2 South East win and went down at the Geoffrey Knight Fields in Surrey on Saturday (18 January) in a match that was largely a battle of the forwards.

After an even first 17 minutes, Old Reigation got the first points on the board when Reilly Franklin-Talbot forced his way over from close range after a strong scrum from the hosts. Thomas Baldwin knocked over the conversion.

The lead was extended just after the half hour when Baldwin added three from a penalty conceded for offside just in front of the posts.

And just moments later some quick-thinking with a tap and go from another penalty caught Thurrock napping and Joseph Goldsmith crashed over. Baldwin again added the extras and despite having played a decent part in the game Thurrock looked like they would go in 17-0 down at the break but in the final action of the half, following a line-out Henry Bird sprinted in to touch down from close range. Replacement James Fergus delivered an excellent long range conversion to raise the visitors' spirits even further going into half time.

Thurrock carried the impetus into the second half and strong pressure from the forwards drew a penalty and yellow card for Old Reigation's Elliot Anderson.

Watch the whole match through this link:-

Just a minute later further pressure followed as Thurrock drove down the middle and Dritan Loka surged over from close range. And Fergus delivered another good kick to make the scoreline 17-14.

That was to be as close as Thurrock were to get to their hosts.

Tees then found themselves a man short when Loka saw yellow in the 14th minutes of the half and almost immediately Goldsmith, backed by a phalanx of forwards, surged over from close range. A successful conversion followed.

Reigation went through a dominant spell but Thurrock defended their line well and a counter-attack led to a penalty in front of the posts which Fergus popped over to put his side in touching distance of the Old Boys.

However, they once more began to press their visitors onto the back foot and in the closing minute of the match, a clever switch of play allowed Baldwin to run the ball in from out wide. He couldn't convert as the ball struck the woodwork, but it was match over for Thurrock.