THERE were mixed fortunes for Thurrock T-Birds' two sides in Sunday's (23 February) action.

In the Championship South T-Birds played host to North Bristol at Oakfield and they went down 24-17.

Despite an unconverted try from Jessica Pettafor, T-Birds conceded a first half lead of 12-5 to the visitors.

A try from Corin Burch just after the restart got them back in contention and another from Pettafor on 53 minutes was converted by Sophie Scanlon but North Bristol, who now sit fifth - one place above Thurrock - proved too strong in the end and completed a season's double after winning 26-10 in Bristol in November.

T-Birds are back in action at Oakfield on Sunday (2 March) when bottom-of-the-table Beckenham visit.

While the firsts were in close contention, there was a runaway win for the seconds at Chelmsford in the Women's NC 1 South East (North), where they won 80-0.

The scoring started in the third minute when Leah Dixon crossed and continued throughout the first half with tries from Holly Edgeway (2), Megan Harris and Ami Parsad. Just one was converted by Hannah Girdleston but T-Birds were 27-0 up at the break.

The second half turned into something of a rout.

Sarah Dyche crossed two minutes after the restart and Edgeway completed her hat-trick soon after.

Further tries came from Megan Pawsey (2), Kaitlyn Dell (2), Dyche, Parsad and Keira Ryan and Girdlestone added four conversions to complete the tally.

Things are likely to be a whole lot tougher for the seconds on Sunday (2 March) when they travel to face Championship South table-toppers Old Albanians Saints in the Women's Intermediate Cup.