Thurrock 19, Ruislip 3 RUGBY: Scrum action returned to Grays after a long break due to the Arctic blast and the festive holiday. And the crowd at Oakfield were rewarded with a classy victory which showed the Tees at their best in a free-flowing victory.

Despite heavy overnight rain the pitch was in decent condition.

A hard game was expected as Thurrock had lost earlier in the season at Ruislip after conceding a trio of late tries. It was a result which stuck in the throats of Tees who had vowed to get revenge in front of their home fans.

Neither side were able to create any clear cut chances early in the bruising enounter.

The deadlock was finely broken when Mark Brandon gratefully accepted a penalty in front of the posts to put the home side ahead.

Ruislip came back strong, but two kickable penalties went astray and they were not able to get onto the score sheet.

In the next foray downfield the home side used their attacking scrum to put themselves in a great striking position.

And, from a set move off the base of the scrum, the ball was fed to Tees talisman Ben Stanley who wiggled his way over in the corner.

Brandon added the conversion from the touchline to give Tees a 10-0 advantage at half time.

The second half continued as a brutal affair, with relatively limited scoring chances.

An early Ruislip penalty gave the visitors some hope, and Thurrock should have put the match to bed when camped on the Ruislip line.

But the Tees failed to score, despite four consecutive 5m scrums.

The first scrum was given after a forward drive resulted in a try, that was not given to the frustration of the home fans.

Brandon added a penalty to give the home side some breathing space.

And two more successful penalties in the last ten minutes wrapped up the points and a deserved – albeit ugly – win for the fast developing Tees side.

TEAM: Worster, Farrell (Porter 55), Gorman, Madden, Stanley, Rudgely, Brandon, North, Scott (S.Rate 55) Stevens, Woodward (Loka 70m), Banks, Flavin, Crowhurst, Timson.

This week Thurrock travel to Woodford, kick off will be at 2.15pm.