Trojans kick off National Conference campaign with impressive victory

It was a performance which showed the Trojans mean business for the new season and the margin of victory would have been greater had Thornhill been able to convert more of their seven tries.

Man-of-the-match for the fourth successive game was in-form loose forward Casey Johnson as he led from the front and weighed in with a try.

There was an impressive performance from strong running Jake Wilson, while debutant Jordan Ward caught the eye with a confident display.

The Trojans opened the scoring with a try from Matthew Tebb when quick thinking from acting half-back saw the hooker burrow over from close range.

This try was swiftly cancelled out with a well taken effort from Stanningley. An off load in the tackle picked out Niall Murphy and he sprinted through a gap to go over for an unconverted try.

Tebb then became try creator when he slipped the ball out of a tackle to the supporting Rye Ward and the youngster showed great awareness to dive over for a score which Casey Johnson converted.

Thornhill began to hold the upper hand and Will Geldhill plunged over for an unconverted try in the corner.

Thornhill came out for the second half 14-4 ahead and the introduction of Jordan Ward gave them further direction.

A courageous run from Jordan Ward saw him bounce off a couple of defenders and over for the try.

The second half scoring continued when Liam Morley wound back the clock to cross for a vintage try with a direct run through the Stanningley defence and Casey Johnson converted.

Stanningley replied with a Carl McGuigan unconverted try but it was too late to mount a comeback.

Jordan Lowther took play close to the try line and Casey Johnson went over for an unconverted try.

The final try was created when George Woodcock combined with Jake Wilson and Sam Ratcliffe crossed.

It was a great opening day win for the Trojans with plenty of positives to reflect on ahead of Saturday’s trip to Milford.