Old Albanians IIs 13, Thurrock T-Birds II 15

IN a dramatic finale, Thurrock T-Birds Seconds produced a match-winning try to knock holders Saints out of the Papa Johns Cup and the borough side are now a match away from another appearance at Twickenham.

Last year they won at HQ in the Women's Junior Cup but success in the league brought promotion and elevation to the Intermediate Cup and they were probably rated as marginal underdogs going into today's quarter-final against a side second in the Midlands 2 division.

But the dramatic last seconds of the match brought the vital winning score from Millie Thurman-Newell and sparked tremendous celebrations among the players, coaches and substantial travelling supporters.

T-Birds gave a great account of themselves from the off and took the lead seven minutes in when they capitalised on a Saints fumble and Devon Johnson was presented with an opportunity to surge through a gap in the hosts' line created by Aii Parsad's offload and she showed electrifying pace to run the ball in between the posts. Keira Ryan converted.

The match was nip and tuck for much of the first half with little between the sides but it was Saints who were next to score, converting a penalty seven minutes from the break.

They pressed hard in the time remaining but some sterling defence from T-Birds kept it at 7-3 at half time.

Ten minutes after the restart St Albans took the lead when they returned a clearing kick with real venom and the powerful Makeda Lewis ran the ball in. The relatively easy conversion, ultimately a very significant factor, drifted right of the target.

Soon after Ryan took advantage of a penalty to kick her side back in front.

There were just a couple of minutes left on the clock when it seemed the hosts had clinched the tie with another try, again from the powerful Lewis who surged through wide on the right to score. The conversion was difficult and dropped short of the posts, leaving Saints 13-10 ahead with little time left of the clock.

T-Birds threw everything at their hosts and forced a penalty from around the 22, which, perhaps a bit surprisingly, Ryan opted to kick in a bid to level the scores.

However, she didn't make it but as Saints ran the ball out they ran into wall after wall of T-Birds tacklers and the ball was turned over.

Increasing pressure saw the hosts concede several penalties but this time T-birds ran them all and ultimately, right out at the corner, Thurman-Newal delivered the dream moment when she surged over.

The conversion attempt from out wide didn't matter thanks to the missed Saints opportunity earlier and when it was missed, the final whistle blew to the delight of all connected with T-Birds.

You can watch all the drama via this link.

Back at Oakfield, T-Birds firsts made it a double success with an emphatic 46-24 win against Beckenham Ladies in the Championship South.

Tries came from Hannah Thornhill (2), Jessica-Jane Scrace (2), Madeleine Lockwood, Jessica Pettafor and Lauren Poole. Sophie Scanlon converted three of the tries.

Watch T-Birds First win here.