THURROCK ladies were made to work for their fourth straight win at the start of the Championship South season.

The T-Birds were 25-12 winners against the Trojans, with Annalise Allan, Tamara Nicholls, India Harvey, Jen Stanhope and Sally Tuson the scorers - the bonus point try not arriving until two minutes from the close.

And coach Andy Yarrow said it was a tricky encounter.

“It was not an easy match and the scoreline flatters us,” said Yarrow. “We were lucky to get that bonus point. We were 5-0 up at half-time but in the second half we looked up for it and got up to 20-0 before we let them back into the game. Our yellow card count is outrageous and it almost cost us again.”

The T-Birds visit Henley this weekend.

Thurrock beat Havant 22-16 to climb to ninth in the London One South.

Joss Nunn crashed over near the posts for the game’s first try although it was level at half-time.

Nathan Farrell and Chris Shorter dotted down for the winning scores.

Thurrock host Brentwood in the Essex Cup semi-final on Saturday, with kick-off at 3pm.