Westcliff staged a fine fight-back to start their season with a narrow 18-13 win at Chingford.

The home-side raced in to a 13-0 lead with two unconverted tries and a penalty But, at the start of the second half, Westcliff finally adjusted their game.

Excellent kicking kept turning the big Chingford forward round and cracks began to appear in the home machine.

Ben McKeith and Jack Jones kicked penalties to narrow the gap to seven points and then a quickly taken tap penalty in the Chingford 22 saw Paul Radley outpace the cover for a try in the corner which went unconverted.

With Chingford's forwards visibly tiring Nick Bard, back after a long injury lay-off kicked into the Chingford 22 and for once the excellent home full back mis-handled and the ball was grabbed by James Culwick for a try which Jones converted to make sure of Westcliff’s win And that pleased the club’s director of rugby Bob Smith.

"I have a feeling Chingford are going places this season so to grab a win at their place will be a real prize at the end of the season,” said Smith.

“I am so proud of our young lads, they never gave up and at the end we had 14 home-grown players on the pitch against some very well travelled players.

"We watched Chingford play a couple of weeks ago and so we knew who their key players were and how we wanted to play against them.

"That was so crucial because they play a very well organised game. You have to turn their forwards because otherwise it is just a brick wall in front of you. They have a very impressive squad. Luckily they had a lot of real first teamers away and we got there in the end.”

>Thurrock also opened their season in winning style as they saw off Bury St Edmunds 22-10.