The
Thornhill Trojans open age side eased to a 21-4 victory over
Dewsbury Moor Under 18s in the
HEAVY WOOLLEN RL’S DARRYL WOOLLIN TROPHY.
Andrew Byram reports
Thornhill Trojans kicked off their preseason campaign with this victory over the
youngsters of Dewsbury Moor.
Under the prompting of coach Deryck Fox the Moor
Under 18s gave a very good account of themselves. However, as the game wore on
it was the Trojans who firmly held the upper hand, particularly in the second
half.
There was a familiar look to the Trojans team which has served them throughout
last season; the only noticeable inclusion to the starting line up was 17 year
old Andrew Bates at stand off.
Bates did very well to stamp his presence on a
game which was played in a constant downpour of rain. His linkage with the more
experience Liam Morley was notable as they both threw the ball around looking to
set up attacking opportunities.
The surprise performance of the game came from Dale Brook. Normally an out and
out winger, coach Wayne Loney chose to play him at prop forward in this game.
Brook used his size and pace to good effect and this could present the Thornhill
coaching staff with an interesting option for the coming season.
It was Dale Brook who scored the first try of the game on 16 minutes. This came
after a Liam Morley pass had put Ryan Fenton within a whisker of the try line.
From the play the ball Dale Brook ran into the attacking line and powered over
for an unconverted try.
Some more strong running from Dale Brook put Thornhill in a dangerous position.
A pass out to winger Shane Johnson gave him space to barge over for an
unconverted try out wide.
It was just after scoring this try that a message was relayed to Thornhill coach
Wayne Loney that he needed to make an urgent interchange. The news was that
Shane Johnson’s girlfriend’s waters had broken and the player was needed
elsewhere. Loney called his player over to break the news and that ended
Johnson’s involvement with the game as he left in an awaiting car.
Right on the stroke of half time Dewsbury Moor scored their only try of the
game. From a play the ball close to the Thornhill line Jack Ryder picked up the
ball from acting half, caught the Trojans napping and dived over for four
points.
The goal was missed and the teams turned around with Thornhill leading
8-4.
The second half got under way with the rain continuing to pour down. The wet
weather failed to dampen the spirits of Joss Ratcliffe and he really set about
taking play forward. Ratcliffe capitalised on some field position which he had
created himself when he picked up the ball from acting half and went over
between the posts for a try. Jack Stead converted.
This try was followed by a drop goal from Andrew Bates and by now Thornhill were
clearly in control of the game.
To round off the scoring and put the result beyond doubt Danny Annakin went on a
glorious solo run towards the line and crossed for a try between the posts. Jack
Stead converted to put Thornhill into the semi finals.
