RUGBY: Thurrock T-Birds returned to winning ways in the league with a 22-10 victory against Henley.

Following their first reverse of the season in the cup, Thurrock made a strong start in the league encounter and took the lead inside five minutes.

Sophie Jane-Tyler went over early on, but the T’s failed to take advantage of their fast start.

Dominant at the scrum, Thurrock were denied more than once by a late intervention or misplaced pass.

On the half hour, taking the scrum option five-meters out, Ts drove the Henley pack backwards over the line for number eight Sarah Dyche to touch down.

Henley pulled one back shortly before half time for the game to stand at 10-5 - all three tries unconverted.

Tamara Nichols was yellow-carded four minutes into the second-half as Henley looked to tie up the scores.

But, down to 14, Ts woke up once again and camped in the Henley 22 until Tyler broke a couple of tackles to score just outside the posts.

Georgia Cook converted to put a bit of daylight between the two, T’s leading 17-5.

Missed chances gave Henley hope once again, dotting down to reduce the advantage to seven points, pulling another try back to keep within touching distance at 17-10 with almost 20 minutes to go.

As the clock ticked into the last five minutes, Ts reached their peak.

A catch and drive put the fourth try on the board for Dyche, although T’s turned down the conversion to go for the bonus point, the ball rolling into touch as the game came to an end.

The result leaves the T-Birds in second position in Division One South, ahead of their next match at Hove on Sunday, November 5.

>Thurrock men’s first XV failed to turn around their difficult start to the season, as they lost their fifth consecutive match - hammered 50-17 by Chichester.