Thornhill Trojans earn first point of season with battling display at Ince Rose Bridge

The Trojans produced a battling performance in sweltering heat in a game that was very physical with several players being the victim of unnecessary high tackles.

Thornhill had one player sin-binned and Ince Rose ended the game with only 10 players on the field having had one sent off and another two sitting in the sin-bin.

Man of the match Joel Gibson was in fine form, calling the shots and at the centre of nearly everything Thornhill did. There was also a top drawer performance from full-back Brad Llewellyn whose efforts drew praise from the opposition players and coaching staff.

Playing down the slope in the first half, Ince were ahead from the first minute, catching Thornhill cold after a hold up on the M62 had led to a later than expected arrival at the ground. Chris Dennings took advantage of a couple of missed tackles to score an early try which Rob Valentine converted.

Ben Hullcroft then forced his way over for a try and Valentine goaled again.

After this initial onslaught the Trojans steadied and began to make an impression. Brad Llewellyn chipped forward and looked to have scored only for the referee to rule a knock-on.

Eventually their persistence paid off as Jake Wilson chipped the ball forward to regather and plant the ball down. Gibson’s conversion made it 12-6 ta half-time.

Thornhill opened the second half in fine style, using the slope to their advantage. Gibson made a great break and Llewellyn backed up the move, sprinting clear. With Gibson converting it was now level.

The visitors looked to have taken the lead through a Gibson score. However, the referee had a differing opinion and nullified the Trojans celebrations by penalising them for offside.

It was from a penalty situation that Ince took the lead again, breaking up the slope for Hullcroft to go over for his second try.

There was then a flair up as tempers boiled over following one too many high tackles. Once order had been restored Thornhill had Jake Wilson sin-binned for pushing and Ince had Ben Fisher sent-off for punching.

It was from another penalty situation that Ince once again tested the Thornhll defence. Eventually Jack Morrison dived over for a try which Valentine converted, leaving the Trojans to fight back from 22-12 down. But what a fight back it was.

With less than 10 minutes remaining Bridge had stand-off Kieran Eccleston sin-binned for a high tackle. James Malne disputed this decision and was also shown a yellow card, reducing his team to 10 men.

Thornhill seized the opportunity and Jake Hickling went on a run towards the posts before flipping the ball up into the path of the supporting Wilson who scored between the posts. Gibson converted.

Thornhill then threw the ball around trying to create an opening and an inside pass from Jordan Ward put Gibson over for a try.

He could not add the conversion, however, and the game finished all square.

When the referee blew for full-time there was mass confusion as the referee awarded the game to Ince Rose Bridge, having the score at 24-22.

The confusion denied Thornhill the opportunity to celebrate avoiding defeat for the first time this season, but it has now been correctly put down as a draw.

Trojans: 1 Brad Llewellyn; 2 Oliver Lightfoot, 3 Ryan Mitchell, 4 Jordan Ward, 5 Jarren Egan; 6 Bailey Lee, 7 Joel Gibson; 8 Josh Hartshorne, 9 Oli Boocock, 10 Jake Wilson, 11 Ryan Hardcastle, 12 Jake Hickling, 13 Harvey Roberts. Subs: 20 Liam Harley, 15 Ewan McDonald (not used), 16 Anthony Broadhead (not used), 17 Oli Brown.