Forward dominance combined with an accurate, fluent back division lead to the bonus point win being secured shortly after half time after a blistering first-half performance.

The Saints quickly took the lead off a turnover in the Thurrock half. A fortunate bounce was pounded upon by Beth Saunders, who raced around the scrambling defence to dive over in the corner. Not satisfied with one early try, the home side soon added to their account after Siobhan Drummond powered deep into be opposition 22 off a strong scrum. The speed of the ball was too quick for Thurrock to recover, allowing Caz Bolton to pull off an amazing finish in the corner to beat the covering defence

The relentless Saints attack showed no sign off slowing, soon after extending their lead to 17-0 after Steph Plunkett jinked and jived her way through three defenders off another turnover in the opposition half. Plunkett soon after doubled her account for the day by exploiting slower forwards in the midfield to make a line break before racing over the line, to extend the gap to 24-0 going into half time.

Thurrock retook the pitch with a renewed energy and quickly put the Saints under pressure. The pressure eventually broke the blue wall as they touched down after building the phases in the Saints 22. Similar to the home side in the first half, they quickly added to their account with a similar score soon after, closing the gap to 24-12.

The Saints rallied responded with an outstanding score. Saunders fielded a loose ball off an attacking scrum and set off on the amazing run across the pitch to establish field position just outside the Thurrock 22. The ball was then moved wide and Caz Bolton sliced through to extend the home side’s lead to 29-12.

Thurrock sieged the OA’s line for the last 10 minutes but the blue wall held strong to deny the visitors a consolation score and thus denying Thurrock what could have proved to be a crucial losing bonus point.

Saints powerful forwards set the platform for their electric backs in what proved to be their performance of the season.

The league season will come to a dramatic conclusion in two weeks as Saints welcome Trojans RFC, looking to gain another try bonus point to potentially secure a phenomenal league win in their first year in the Championship.”

Paul Adams ,

Team Manager