Trojans bounce back in style to record emphatic victory

Thornhill Trojans bounced back from their defeat to Drighlington in some style as they put Salford City Roosters to the sword with a 52-6 win last Saturday.
David Clayton scored a hat-trick of tries as Thornhill Trojans defeated Salford City Roosters to move up to second place in National Conference League Division Two last Saturday.David Clayton scored a hat-trick of tries as Thornhill Trojans defeated Salford City Roosters to move up to second place in National Conference League Division Two last Saturday.
David Clayton scored a hat-trick of tries as Thornhill Trojans defeated Salford City Roosters to move up to second place in National Conference League Division Two last Saturday.

As expected, the Salford team gave a good account of themselves and never gave in but Thornhill’s determination to get back on track proved to be key as they moved up to second place in National Conference League DivisionTwo.

David Clayton took his opportunities well to score a hat-trick of tries and once his match fitness comes back, along with Will Gledhill, Thornhill feel they have two of the best centres in the league.

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Man-of-the-match went to Luke Haigh, while there were also outstanding performances from Gledhill and Luke Carter.

The only area of concern for the Trojans was the woeful goal kicking. The number of points Thornhill have dropped this season due to not been able to convert tries is alarming.

The Trojans started this 10 try victory with Joss Ratcliffe scoring a breakaway try after only three minutes and Danny Ratcliffe converted.

This strong opening was built upon when some lofted passes resulted in the ball being worked out to James Craven, who in turn sent out a pass that put Gledhill over for an unconverted try.

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Thornhill remained relentless in the opening exchanges when the ball was quickly worked out to the wing and Ryan Fenton sprinted away to score in the corner.

There was then an abrupt reality check for the Trojans when Salford scored a breakaway try.

Thornhill seemed to ease off in their intensity and when a stray pass went to ground, Tom Smith picked the ball up and raced 80 metres to score, Alex Edwards converting.

This was the wake up call that the Trojans needed and Danny Ratcliffe appeared to have scored a try only to have it chalked off for a knock on.

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Thornhill continued to rally and a fantastic interchange of passes involving Joss Ratcliffe saw Liam Morley break free to score a try, which Sam Ratcliffe converted.

Straight from the kick off Clayton scored the first of his hat-trick to give Thornhill a 24-6 interval lead.

As the second half got underway Clayton forced his way over for his second try.

An interchange of passes down the middle of the field involving all of the Thornhill three-quarter line ended with substitute George Woodcock scoring a self-converted try.

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Clayton then completed his hat-trick when he picked up a loose ball from 30 metres out and strolled over for a try that Woodcock converted.

A flare up then erupted after David Clayton had bundled a player into touch. Once order had been restored the referee sent Sam Ratcliffe to the sin bin for an apparent punch.

Despite been down to 12 men Thornhill continued to score tries. Next to cross was Tom Geldhill when he ran well onto a pass to go between the posts for a try. Woodcock converted.

In the final moments Luke Carter went over for a try between the posts and Woodcock converted to wrap up victory.nydr 27-07-17 SPT WEB