Scott Dyson’s first game as Head Coach of
Thornhill Trojans will be remembered as the one that got away. With less than 25
minutes of the game remaining Danny Ratcliffe had just raced over for a
sparkling long range try which he converted himself to put the Trojans in a
commanding 10 points lead.
At this point Scott Dyson looked to be starting his coaching career with an
impressive victory on Humberside. But then a series of unforced handling errors
from Thornhill resulted in the game sliding away from them and victory quickly
turned into defeat.
With a try and four goals to his credit Danny Ratcliffe made an impressive
return to the Trojans team after a spell in the professional game. Ratcliffe’s
kicking game was an important feature of Thornhill’s play and created vital
field position as well as a try.
There was also an impressive showing from man of the match Rob Copley at full
back. Copley did very well to take play forward and get Thornhill out of
dangerous situations. The endeavour of Copley was matched by the creativity of
Richard Pachniuk as he created moves for Thornhill with some cleaver passing. |
Not even the return of Danny Ratcliffe could prevent the Trojans throwing
the game away. |
In the opening exchanges Hull Dockers took
advantage of some sloppy attacking play from the Trojans when possession was
needlessly lost. Time and time again the ball was put to ground by Thornhill
to gift possession to the home team.
After an initial penalty goal through Paul Taylor when Thornhill had ripped
the ball out, Hull Dockers scored the first try of the game.
The try came following a good break up the middle of the field by Chris
Shelton. Shelton burst through a poor attempt at a tackle to set up the
attack and then put a kick along the ground towards the left hand corner.
Winger Danny Ulyatt had read the situation perfectly to collect the kick and
go over unchallenged for a try in the corner. Paul Taylor converted.
Now trailing by 8 points the Trojans began to show some sort of composure
and there appeared to be a touch of good fortune in the scoring of their
first try. Just inside Hull Dockers half of the field Anthony Broadhead got
a pass out to winger Chris Walker. Walker initially appeared to have knocked
the ball on but the referee ruled that the ball had in fact hit his legs.
The winger played on, hacked the ball forward towards the try line and gave
chase. The Dockers defence couldn’t catch him and Chris Walker touched down
for a try in the corner. Danny Ratcliffe converted.
Thornhill continued to take a hold of the game and it was another kick
forward which eventually caught Hull Dockers out. With play on the last
tackle Danny Ratcliffe put up a high kick close to the try line. The ball
thundered back to earth and bounced perfectly into the path of the chasing
Ben Hardacre. The Hull Dockers defence stood stranded and appeared to make
no real attempt correct the situation. As a result Ben Hardacre charged over
for a try to put Thornhill in the lead. Danny Ratcliffe converted.
A strong start to the second half immediately paid dividends for Thornhill.
A high kick towards the Hull Dockers line by Danny Ratcliffe was knocked on
by the home full back. Thornhill won the scrum and Rob Copley made the
initial raid towards the Dockers try line. From the play the ball Richard
Pachniuk showed great strength and determination to burrow over the line to
score a try. Danny Ratcliffe converted. |
Rob Copley was names M.O.M. for
the second week running. |
As a taste of things to come, Hull Dockers
proved they were in no mood to let Thornhill roll them over. Instead the
home team immediately hit back with a well worked try. Sustained pressure on
the Thornhill line climaxed with David Fletcher bulldozing over for four
points despite the attentions of several tacklers. Paul Taylor converted.
Then came the turning point of the game. Thornhill tried to run the ball
away from their own line and Chris Walker lost the ball in the tackle.
The referee called for a scrum down on the
30 meters line with Dockers head and feed. Straight from the scrum down
Dockers lost the ball and it was snapped up by Danny Ratcliffe. Ratcliffe
sped away on a run directly towards the try line.
No one could catch him and he scorched over for a try which he converted
himself. With Thornhill 10 points in front and with the hard work apparently
done the decision was taken to retire Danny Ratcliffe from action. | |
The game then ended just as it had
started with several unforced errors from Thornhill giving the run of
play to Hull Dockers.
Close to the Thornhill try line Dockers were awarded a penalty for a
high tackle. Dockers quickly tapped the penalty and this caught
Thornhill out. Chris Batty nipped over for a try between the posts which
Paul Taylor converted.
Some hard running towards the Thornhill try line eventually created the
necessary opening. Craig Henry appeared to run through a paper thin
defence to cross for a try which Paul Taylor converted.
It was only when Hull Dockers had taken the lead that Thornhill began to
show some sort of composure. But this was too late to salvage something
from this game. With Thornhill’s last real throw of the dice Jason Firth
put a clever kick towards the Dockers try line, but to the agony of his
team mates Chris Walker couldn’t hold the ball leaving the Trojans to
reflect on the two points which they had let slip through their fingers.
Match report compiled by Andrew Byram. |
|
 |
| Trojans Stats: |
| 1 |
R Copley |
| 2 |
C Walker |
| 3 |
J Firth |
| 4 |
B
Hardacre |
| 5 |
S
Redgwick |
| 6 |
D Ratcliffe |
| 7 |
G Mack |
| 8 |
S Davies |
| 9 |
R
Pachniuk |
| 10 |
D Lee |
| 11 |
M
Roberts |
| 12 |
A Broadhead |
| 13 |
L Morley |
| Subs: |
| 14 |
S Haigh |
| 15 |
L Schofield |
| 16 |
J Folan |
| 17 |
V
Johnson |
| Scorers: |
| B
Hardacre |
1 try |
| R
Pachniuk |
1 try |
| D Ratcliffe |
1 try |
| C Walker |
1 try |
| D Ratcliffe |
4 goals |
|
|
Trojans M.O.M. |
|
R Copley |
|
 |
| Hull
Dockers Stats: |
| 1 |
C
Shelton |
| 2 |
P
Elbourne |
| 3 |
A
Charlesworth |
| 4 |
P Taylor |
| 5 |
D Ulyatt |
| 6 |
P
Stevenson |
| 7 |
S
Sellars |
| 8 |
M
Emerson |
| 9 |
G Adam |
| 10 |
D
Fletcher |
| 11 |
C Henry |
| 12 |
J Eccles |
| 13 |
C Batty |
| Subs: |
| 14 |
S
Musgrave |
| 15 |
S
Bennett |
| 16 |
G Malloy |
| 17 |
C Fisher |
| Scorers: |
| D Ulyatt |
1 try |
| D Fletcher |
1 try |
| C Henry |
1 try |
| C Batty |
1 try |
| P Taylor |
5 goals |
| Hull
Dockers
M.O.M. |
| C Batty |
 |
| Team |
P |
Pts |
|
Leigh East |
9 |
14 |
|
Skirlaugh |
8 |
14 |
| Wigan St Pats |
9 |
14 |
|
East Hull |
9 |
13 |
|
Leigh Miners |
9 |
12 |
|
Castleford |
9 |
10 |
|
Hull Dockers |
9 |
9 |
|
Oulton |
8 |
8 |
|
Trojans |
9 |
8 |
|
Siddall |
9 |
6 |
|
Rochdale |
9 |
6 |
| Eastmoor |
9 |
4 |
|
West Hull |
9 |
4 |
|
West Bowling |
9 |
2 |
|
|
|
