Thornhill Trojans hit by injuries as they are well beaten by Lock Lane

A 48-0 defeat to title-chasing Lock Lane highlighted the gulf between the teams at the top end and bottom end of the Premier Division.

Thornhill had a number of players doubling up after playing for the 'A' team the previous evening against Shaw Cross A in the Heavy Woollen Cup and this inevitably began to take its toll with several players having to retire from this game with injuries.

The most serious of the injuries was prop Scott Howarth who had to go to hospital with a suspected broken arm.

The game was watched by more than 400 and played on Jubilee Bank Holiday Thursday evening.

Spectators saw Thornhill make a positive start to this game that gave no indication of how the full-time score would end up.

The Trojans pressed Lock Lane with man of the match Joel Gibson causing the defence all sorts of problems with his runs. At one point Oliver Lightfoot came agonisingly close to scoring for the Trojans.

But after this strong opening Lock Lane began to take control of the game.

The Castleford team ran in eight tries in total, with four coming in either half. Ben Mawson, Oliver Bloomer (two), Nathan Fozzard, Callum Butler (two) and Bailey O'Connor (two) all touched down for Lane with Mason Hare (four) and Butler (four) kicking goals.

Thornhill were up in arms when the first try was scored as George Woodcock was down injured, receiving treatment meaning they were a player short. Their protests that play should have been stopped fell on deaf ears and the try was awarded.

The second Lock Lane try was also disputed by the Trojans as the Lock Lane player who picked up the ball appeared to be in an offside position. The referee waved pay on and Thornhill knew it was about to be a long day at the office.

A Gibson break down the middle of the field, backed up by Liam Morley was the only remaining highlight for the first half for Thornhill.

In the second half Thornhill did have a good spell which saw Lightfoot come close to scoring, but he could not hold the ball after some good handling along the attacking line. Will Gledhill also made a good break, but the final kick forward did not bounce correctly for Gibson to gather and complete the move.

Thornhill must now regroup and focus on more winnable games if they are to maintain their Premier Division status.

Trojans: 1. Joel Gibson 2. Oliver Lightfoot 3. Will Gledhill 4. George Woodcock 5. Adam Allerton 6. Liam Morley 7. Bailey Lee 21. Scott Howarth 9. Matthew Tebb 13. Sam Ratcliffe 17. Dom Flanagan 12. Jordan Ward 10. Casey Johnson. Subs: 14. Ryan Mitchell 15. Luke Carter 20. Jonathan Hellings 19. Lee Smith

Thornhill Trojans' A team lost 52-14 to Shaw Cross A in a John Kane Heavy Woollen Cup tie on Wednesday night.

Tries were scored by Adam Johnson, Nathan Lowther and Liam Ward with Ryan Mitchell kicking a goal.

Man of the match was Nathan Lowther.

Trojans A: 1. Jacob Holmes 2. Jordan Smith 3. Adam Johnson 4. Josh Gearey 5. Taylor Potts 6. Ryan Mitchell 7. Nathan Lowther 8. Josh Riley 9. Lewis Farren 10. Scott Craven 11. Kyle Corbett 12. Liam Harley 13. Lee Smith. Subs: Jonathan Hellings 15. Jake Garvey 16. James McHendry 17. Liam Ward.