Barking kicked off their pre-season campaign with an entertaining and competitive fixture against Billericay, eventually falling to a 42–62 defeat in a game that produced plenty of tries and valuable lessons for the developing squad.

It was the visitors who opened the scoring, taking an early 0–7 lead. However, Barking responded in impressive fashion, hitting back with four converted tries to turn the game around and establish a commanding 28–7 advantage.

Billericay showed their quality and fought their way back into the contest, scoring two tries to reduce the deficit to 28–19. Both sides then exchanged a try before the half-time whistle, with Barking taking a 35–26 lead into the break.

The second half saw a completely different momentum as Billericay came flying out of the blocks. A dominant 15-minute period saw the visitors score three converted tries, turning the game around and taking a 47–35 lead.

Barking showed great character to respond and score their sixth try of the afternoon, closing the gap to 42–47 and keeping themselves firmly in the contest.

However, Billericay continued to take advantage of their momentum and scored a further three tries to see out the game as deserved winners, finishing with a 62–42 victory.

For Barking, this was the squad's first pre-season outing and there were plenty of positives to take despite the result. With eight regular first-team players unavailable, the coaching team used the game as an opportunity to rotate the squad and give players valuable competitive game time. Multiple players also found themselves playing out of position, something Billericay identified and took advantage of.

Ultimately, that is what pre-season is about: testing the squad, giving players opportunities, and identifying the areas that need improving before the competitive season begins.

The players can be proud of the effort they put in throughout the game. They know there is work to be done, and the focus now turns to improving those areas on the training field.

Barking now move on to their next pre-season fixture as they welcome Millwall to Barking on Friday 11th September, with a 7:30pm kick-off under the lights.

Please come down, get behind the boys, and show your support! ?