Romford & Gidea Park 26, Thurrock 37

THURROCK returned from Romford on Saturday (6 December) with a well-earned Counties 1 Essex victory after an eventful derby clash that reignited a league rivalry not contested since December 2014.

On that occasion, Thurrock also took the win — and remarkably, Jake Barrand remains the only player involved from that match, once again making a major impact almost a decade later.

Thurrock topped the table by one point from Romford at the start and they opened the scoring through Barrand, who slotted a steady early penalty to settle the side. Barrand then added a well-taken try, cutting through the Romford defence before converting his own score to extend the lead. A second penalty from the fullback pushed T's further ahead as the visitors dominated field position and tempo.

The advantage grew when Kodie Holloway intercepted a Romford pass from a scrum and raced in untouched, capitalising on sharp defensive reading with Barrand once again converting. Thurrock at one stage held a commanding 20-point lead as the first half moved toward its close.

However, Romford responded strongly and pulled back seven with a converted try after Thurrock failed to deal with two kicks into their territory and when the ball bobbled behind the try line it was a Romford player Ben Kennedy who dived on it to score, and the try was converted by a hefty kick from Rian Horsman.

Just a couple of moments later Romford were back on the front foot and Ryan Green-Matthews burst through several tackles to get the ball over and reduce the arrears further. This time Horsman's kick struck the posts so the sides went into the break with Thurrock leading 20-22

Early pressure in the opening minutes of the second half saw Romford win a lineout near the line on their right and a worked catch and shove saw them drive the ball over the line and a successful conversion from Horsman took the points difference to just one point.

Thurrock had to weather some intense pressure in the wake of that score but held out and eventually hauled themselves up the field where former Romford player Jake Jones struck twice in quick succession, first powering over following some good work from another ex Romford player  young Bill Bailey. The conversion was missed.

And within a couple of minutes a rejuvenated Thurrock stretched the lead again after winning a Romford line-out and a flowing move, again featuring Bailey and Jones, the latter who surged through again to spot the ball near the posts and Barrand delivered the extras.

Kodi Holloway came close to another try after a kick through and chase but Romford's defence scrambled back to deny Tees the opportunity to score. However, the reprieve was only a matter of a minute as the visitors retained possession and after a series of attempts from close range, another former Romford players Antony Catchpole got the ball down. Barrand hooked the conversion wide of the upright.

Romford were reduced to 14 when Kieran Bradley was adjudged to have delivered a high tackle.

Thurrock pressed to take advantage of the extra man and looked set to get a finishing score, but a kick wide when on the attack gave possession away and a surging run from Romford on the counter caught Thurrock undermanned at the back and the home side got the ball down under the sticks. The conversion quickly followed set up a nervous last few minutes for the visitors.

Romford fumbled the restart, allowing Tees possession in their half and they went for a drop goal to round the scoring off.

It was charged down but the home side couldn't take advantage and within a few seconds the final whistle sounded to leave Thurrock victorious with an increased lead at the top of the table.

You can watch the entire match via this link:

Thurrock now have a five-point advantage at the top of the table and they will look to carry on their momentum when they host Upminster at Oakfield next Saturday (13 December).

In the same division, Stanford-le-Hope's run of disappointing results when they were heavily beaten, 67-18 at home to Maldon. 

Stanford's next match is also on this coming Saturday, when they make what is likely to be a daunting trip in the footsetps of Thurrock when they go to Romford.