THURROCK T-Birds will be looking to bounce back to winning ways when they welcome Old Albanians to Oakfields on Sunday.

T-Birds suffered a 30-21 defeat at Hove.

And coach Andy Yarrow admits Thurrock were not at their best.

“Hove is always a hard place to visit,” said Yarrow.

“They have a simple game-plan where they use their powerful forwards and it is always hard to combat.

“We played in intervals and lacked the real 80 minute performance we have been searching for.

“Half-time came at the wrong time for us as we had really started building momentum.

“Last season we lost three games and still won this league.

“There is no doubt it is a tougher league this time around but we want to get back to winning ways when we host big-spenders Old Albanians Saints on Sunday at Oakfields.

“It should be a great contest so get down to Thurrock Rugby Club and support the girls.”

Lizell Heather, Niketa Akintade and Sally Tuson were T-Birds’ try scorers.

Heather also succeeded with all three conversion attempts.