Thurrock T-Birds 22, Exeter University 24

T-BIRDS played a rare Saturday fixture on Valentine's Day, succumbing in the end to a narrow defeat in an enjoyable Championship South contest.

It didn't take long for the hosts to make their mark on the game, taking the ball close to the Exeter line in the fifth minute and winning a penalty. It was tapped and the maul formed as Thurrock drove forwards and Jess Rowe stretched to get the ball down over the whitewash. Ysobel Lush's conversion was wide and short.

T-Birds continued to dominate and press and were rewarded in the 14th minute when the ball was spun along the three-quarters into the hands of Abigail Jones who sprinted in wide on the left. Again the attempt for extras fell short. 

That try owed much to the speed and agility of Hannah Thornhill who set up the final pass but T-Birds temporarily lost her services to an ankle injury when she was brought down in the 25th minute after another surging, line-breaking run. She did return after treatment and strapping was applied. 

Thurrock continued to be in the ascendancy but five minutes before the break, after a rare piece of pressure Georgina Brown picked up the ball close to the Thurrock line and squirmed through a hesitant home defence to put the ball down right between the posts, leaving Clara Grizzle-Johnson the simplest of conversions.

And to compound Thurrock's disappointment, in the 48th minute of elapsed time, after a period of sustained pressure that saw Thurrock draw a yellow card for Jess Rowe, Kate Smith barged through the home line and touched down close to the posts. Grizzle-Johnson converted and, after a half which they largely dominated, Thurrock found themselves 14-10 down at the break.

However, they restored the lead three minutes after the restart when a clever low cross kick set up the chance for Thornhill to pick the ball up and dive over wide on the right. It left a difficult conversion for Lush and in the end, as she pondered how to strike it, the ref called time saying the shot clock had expired and the chance for extras was lost. It was a moment that proved somewhat pivotal in the end.

The lead was stretched further just before the hour when after a series of phases close to the Exeter line Madeline Major crashed through to touch down - and Lush added the extras.

At that point it looked like T-Birds had the match in their grasp but a number of injuries and fatigue took their toll and Exeter came back into it.

Katrina Hayes picked the ball up and stretched over after a series of forward drives near the home line. Extras were missed.

There were around five minutes left when Exeter got the winning score, again from the hands of Smith whose strength took her over close to the post. Surprisingly, the conversion was missed but the two point lead proved to be enough - with Thurrock possibly ruing the unattempted conversion, as difficult as it looked.

The table after weekend fixtures were completed.

T-Birds' forward of the match was Toba Lawalem and back of the match Abbie Jones. Player of the match was Izzy Lush, sponsored by Ashdon Insulations Ltd | Expert Thermal Insulation Contractors.

T-Birds are in action next weekend with a lengthy trip to North Bristol on Sunday (22 February).