Big crowd sees Dewsbury Moor Maroons earn bragging rights with cup semi win over Thornhill Trojans

Both teams battled valiantly to try to secure their place in the local cup final, but it was Moor's fitness and firepower that proved decisive as they pulled clear in the second half to win 22-6.

Thornhill rolled the dice for this cup tie and brought back into the side some more experienced heads who they felt could deal with this full on local cup tie.

In came Danny Ratcliffe as cover for the injured Joel Gibson while Josh Harthorne also returned from his spell with Cornwall and there were run outs for long time absentees George Woodcock and Matthew Tebb.

The strategy seemed to have worked in a first half that ended level at 6-6. Danny Ratcliffe particularly caught the eye with some enterprising runs and was well supported by MOM Brad Llewellyn.

Casey Johnson also ran strongly and it was one of his runs that resulted in the first score as he forced his way over for a try converted by Ryan Mitchell.

Moor reacted well and after having a try disallowed they worked out to the touchline where Joshua Burland went over in the corner. Louie Walker converted.

The Maroons seemed to have more purpose with their attacking play in the second half and appeared to want the victory that bit more than Thornhill.

A missed tackle from Thornhill provided the opening Dewsbury Moor needed to break the stalemate with Brad Adams racing away for a try. The delight from scoring this try was seen when Adams threw the ball away in celebration. Walker converted.

As the half wore on Moor's superior fitness began to show and niggles began to creep into tackles, meaning the referee had to intervene to calm things down.

But eventually Dewsbury Moor began to pull clear. The ball was worked out to the wing, Will Clarkson took the ball forward and looked to have been held short of the line. However, he managed to reach forward and plant the ball down over the line to score an unconverted try.

The decisive score came two minutes from time as Adams forced his way forward to score his second try and was mobbed by his teammates. Walker’s conversion completed the scoring.

In the final moments tempers once again boiled over and players rushed in to settle their differences. Once order had been restored Thornhill's Jordan Ward was sent to the sin-bin for a high tackle.

Shortly after this the referee blew for full-time to send Dewsbury Moor into the final where they will play Shaw Cross Sharks on Thursday, August 10 at the Batley Bulldogs ground.