Thurrock Ladies 15, Henley 3

THURROCK overcame difficult, cold, wet, windy and muddy conditions as well as a game team from Henley to record a morale-boosting Championship South win today (Sunday, 26 January).

Henley got on the board early with a Lauren Knowler penalty from in front of the posts in the third minute awarded for offside but, despite having to make an early change when Rosie Bennett was replaced by Aimee Shaw, T-Birds took the lead on 35 minutes,

It was a try created by an intuitive crossfield kick into space by Ella Barnes which caught the Henley defence napping and Abigail Jones raced through on the flank to gather the ball and run it over the try-line. Barnes converted and she extended the advantage with a penalty early in the second half.

T-Birds then made a raft of replacements before completing the scoring with a 72nd minute unconverted try close to the left touchline when T-Birds won their line-out and were awarded a penalty. Claire Phelps saw the opportunity for a quick tap and drove over the line.

Watch the match in full here:

After the game, matchball and player of the match sponsor Lionel Haywood of Hayward of Essex (Window and Office Cleaning Services) nominated Maddy Lockwood as his pick of the T-Birds.

T-Birds are looking for match-day sponsors for the Match Day Ball and Player of the Match, for remaining home games. If you or your company can help in anyway, get in touch by email to the club's commerial team.

T-Birds are at Oakfield next Sunday, for those that can't make it, the match live stream link is: T-Birds -v- OA's 2nd Feb 2025 - 2:30pm KO