Thornhill Trojans are short on numbers but deliver battling display against title contenders

A combination of suspensions, injuries and players not willing to travel, meant that Thornhill only had 12 players so to only lose 26-0 in the circumstance was a good effort.

Assistant coach Anthony Broadhead once again came out of retirement to make the numbers up to 13.

This lack of numbers was even after cancelling the scheduled A team game with a number of the reserve players either unwilling to commit to the trip to Cumbria or reluctant to step up to first team action.

However, the fixture was fulfilled and despite lack of any substitutes, the Trojans put up a performance to be proud of.

Eighteen-year-old Ryan Mitchell made his debut at stand-off while A team forwards Jonathan Hellings, Scott Howarth and Liam Harley, all used to playing in spells, kept going for as long as possible.

Man of the match for Thornhill was Joel Gibson who was a tower of strength at full-back, using his astute kicking to take the Trojans out of danger.

Thornhill held their hosts for the opening 20 minutes until Nathan Lucock ran onto a short pass and with a burst of pace beat a visiting defender to race away for an unconverted try.

It was following a stoppage in play that a long ball out to the wing over stretched the Thornhill defence. Winger Sam Curwin ran on the pass and went over for a try out wide, which Cole Walker-Taylor converted.

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This was the only really unstable period of the game from the Trojans and it was during this time that a dummy in front of the posts carved the defence wide open. Daniel Burns proved to be Thornhill’s tormentor and strode through the gap to go over for a try between the posts.

Walker-Taylor converted to see the Trojans trail 16-0 at the interval.

The second half was always going to be a tall order for Thornhill as the heavy pitch began to take its toll.

They tried to reshuffle to accommodate knocks and tiring bodies. It was during a spell in which Thornhill were down to 12 players that Joe Power dived over in the corner for an unconverted try.

A further Wath Brow score was thwarted with a brilliant last ditch tackle from Gibson before Charlie Tomlinson went over for a try between the posts.

Walker-Taylor converted again to stretch the home lead further.

The highlight of the second half for Thornhill was when winger Chris Mitchell leapt high to collect a kick and set off on a dash down the wing before eventually being wrapped up by the Wath Brow defence.

Thornhill ended the game with only 12 men on the field but the 13 who put in a shift can be proud of their efforts. This Saturday the Trojans are back at home, taking on Lock Lane.