Thornhill Trojans are edged out by Pilkington Recs despite returning players making an impact

Although they lost 22-16 the The Trojans played well and with a few tweaks, their first victory cannot be that far away.

Casey Johnson returned to the side along with Gareth Love. There was also a welcome return for Josh Hartshorne who has been playing with Cornwall. All three made an impact.

Jake Wilson was once again a tower of strength, but the official man of the match was Joss Ratcliffe who registered a superb brace of tries.

What was remarkable about the closeness of this game was that Thornhill had four players sin-binned and a one point were down to 11 men.

The first player carded was Thomas Green after only three minutes for tripping and with their man advantage Recs took the lead as Andy Morris burrowed under a pile of bodies to score. Kyran Knapper converted.

Thornhill hit back as Ryan Mitchell took play forward then the ball was worked left where Ratcliffe powered over. George Woodcock’s conversion went in off the crossbar to level the score.

Ratcliffe went over again after following up his own kick after Johnson had taken the Trojans within range of the try line. With Woodcock goaling the visitors were in front.

As half-time approached Thornhill had Ratcliffe sin-binned for an off the ball challenge and the hosts scored their second try through Callum Lyon.

The second half was equally intense, but a missed tackle created space for Pilkington’s Miles Blackman to cross for a try, converted by Knapper.

The task in hand suddenly became even more difficult for Thornhill when they were reduced to 11 players. First, Josh Riley was sin-binned for holding down then two minutes later Wilson was shown a yellow card for a high tackle.

Despite this handicap, Thornhill showed resolve. A searching run from Ratcliffe put them in a good position and Johnson sent Jake Hickling through a gap to score. The conversion attempt bounced off the upright to leave the scores level, but the Trojans were back in the hunt for their first win.

With 10 minutes left Pilkington recs took advantage of a back to one decision in their favour, however, and the pressure was too much for the Thornhill defence as Ryan Liptrot went over for the decisive score, Knapper converted.

This was another case of so near yet so far for the Trojans.

Thornhill Trojans: 1 Ryan Mitchell; 21 Joss Ratcliffe, 3 Richard Llewellyn, 19 George Woodcock, 5 Travis Lumb; 20 Casey Johnson, 7 Bailey Lee; 8 Josh Riley, 9 Oliver Boocock, 10 Josh Hartshorne, 11 Thomas Green, 16 Jake Hickling, 13 Jake Wilson. Subs: 12 Anthony Broadhead, 15 Ewan McDonald, 18 Matt Teasdale, 17 Gareth Love.