THURROCK slumped to fifth in the London One North table after suffering a 39-5 defeat at North Walsham.

T’s had been hoping to secure a fifth successive win but a number of injuries left them depleted for the game.

And their director of rugby Dean White was keen to remain upbeat.

“Saturday was a difficult day at the office for us,” said White.

“We had 11 players missing for the game but the boys that stepped up did the club proud and gave everything to the shirt.

“We will definitely learn from this game though and will continue to develop the areas that we feel let us down at the weekend.”

Despite the defeat, Thurrock remain just four points off the top of the London One North table.

And White believes the race for promotion will not be decided until the final day of the season.

“This league is still very tight at the top and six teams are separated by just four points,” said White.

“We and other teams have a lot to play for and I can see this league going right to the wire this season.

“We must look to pick up as many points as possible over the Christmas period.

“But we have two very tough games coming up with CS Rugby at home this week followed by Tring away.

“Both of these teams are in the top six with us but this is a very exciting league this season.

“Our crowd numbers are proof of that but we have a real buzz around the club and we hope to entertain our supporters as much as possible.”