THURSTON II 33

HARWICH AND DOVERCOURT II 10

Eastern Counties League

division three south

HARWICH lost out in this top-of-the-table clash.

Thurston have now leapfrogged them and moved to the top of the league, while the Tendring side will be looking over their shoulder as third-placed Halstead, with a game in hand, are only five points behind.

Regular scrum-half Mark Bow and Ciaran Johnson were both out injured, leaving back row Josh Edwards to take up station at nine.

Props Mark Sanders-Crook, James Mann and Rob Kemp were also missing and it was left to Lee Durrant to play his first game at prop - and he put in a man-of-the-match performance.

Also missing were regulars Lewis Kerley and Guy Williams.

Captain Oly Bray still managed to field a strong side, despite a number of late call-off and call-ups, which brought back-row forward Jamal Schut and walking wounded Sam Male into the squad on Saturday morning.

Despite the forced changes, it was a fired up Harwich squad who were definitely up for the challenge as they started as the aggressors.

They gained territorial advantage and created a gap for stand-off Craig Wilson to pick his line and score under the post just five minutes into the game. Wilson also converted.

Both teams were very evenly matched in the middle of the park but it was the physicality of the visitors which was nudging the advantage their way.

Unfortunately, they were unable to convert it into points and, after a string of penalties, Thurston were able to ship the ball wide to reduce the points deficit with an unconverted try.

Harwich quickly bounced back when they were award a penalty within kicking distance which Male converted.

With Thurston players dropping like flies, they were grateful for their large contingent on the bench - none more so then the replacement number eight who was the stand-out player on the day.

He created a try just before half-time to take a narrow lead, breaking from the back of the scrum on the halfway line to give the support runner an easy run in as he offloaded for a converted try.

While the visitors still believed the game was within grasp at the turnaround, they were put on the back foot and forced to chase the game as Thurston extended their lead with a carbon-copy try created by their number eight from close range.

Harwich battled to the end and made sure every point was hard-earned.

However, with a small squad and fatigue setting in, they were fighting a losing battle and unable to stop the hosts extending the lead with a further penalty kick and fourth try for the bonus point.

This week Harwich are at home to Essex University (kick-off 2pm).