Tjs were back at The Slade on Saturday for their National 1 Round 5 match up with Dings Crusaders and boy was it a battle royal.
Both sides enjoyed periods of dominant possession and territory and just as it looked like Dings might inflict Tjs first defeat of the season up stepped and sniped Connor Lloyd to score under the sticks and convert to grab a 41-37 victory and maximum points
Lloyd impressed throughout and assisted the first try for Matthew Engelbrecht after 5 minutes. Harrison Langworthy grabbed a first half brace with powerful efforts as a very lively No 8. Jack Walsh grabbed a team try in the second half and with 4 conversions and a penalty from Lloyd Tjs secured yet another narrow win.
The result keeps Tjs level on points at the top with Plymouth Albion who posted a 102-0 mauling on Cambridge with 16 tries for the hosts and 3 yellow cards for Cambridge. Sale lie third after they beat Leeds Tykes 17-21 on Friday night.
Birmingham & Moseley notched a 35-14 win over Rams and Camborne saw off London Scottish 38-26. Rosslyn Park beat Sheffield 40-24 and Bury St Edmunds beat Tjs next opponents Bishop’s Stortford 31-21
Tjs 2s had a late kick off at The Slade and their somewhat younger legs took the game away from Thanet in the second half with 3 converted tries in the last 10 minutes to win 59-26. First half tries by Luke Cerely, Josh Hacker, Freddie Skinner and Alex Harmes plus 3 conversions from Robbie Simmonds saw Tjs lead 26-14 at the halfway point
Harvey Furneaux and Riley Young dotted down early in the second half before Skinner, Jared van Zijl and Hacker scored further tries and Simmonds added 4 more conversions before Thanet grabbed a last minute try for the game to end 59-26
Elsewhere in The Champ Rotherham Titans beat Bedford Blues 40-38 after they charged down the final conversion of the game to deny the Blues a draw. In National 2 East Oundle and Gurnsey remain joint top after 21-41 and 35-26 against Barnes and Old Albanians respectively.
Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks secured wins to both stay undefeated and joint top with Old Alleynians in Regional 1 South Central. Tunbridge Wells beat Bournemouth 49-28 and Oaks beat Wimbledon 7-47.
On Sunday Tjs Academy kicked off their National Colts Cup campaign with a 50-0 win over Hastings & Bexhill.