Thornhill have pulled off the great escape with three games to spare and will now be once again playing Premier Division rugby next season.

The Trojans followed up the previous weeks fantastic 22 all draw at Rochdale Mayfield with this unexpected victory at Skirlaugh. Skirlaugh were expected to roll the Trojans over and cement second place in the league table.

However, the Trojans were having none of it and produce an outstanding defensive performance which snubbed almost everything Skirlaugh could throw at them. With Castleford Panthers losing to East Hull the Trojans survival is now confirmed.

Credit must go to player coach Scott Dyson for holding everything together on the playing front when the team could have quite easily waved the white flag and accepted relegation as inevitable. Dyson’s leadership has simply shone through in the final fixtures in the way he has ensured his team has battled to the end.

Youngster Daniel McKenzie,an unexpected debutant.

With a few familiar faces still missing from the Trojans line up Scott Dyson has been forced to dig into his playing reserves to raise a team in recent weeks. The playing reserves of Thornhill was unexpectedly dug into on the journey over to Hull when there transpired to be some uncertainty surrounding the registration status of winger Michael Stewart.

On the advice of the National Conference League Stewart was deselected.  Stewart confessed to having “signed” some Registration Form for Batley on the Thursday evening and given Thornhill’s league position, the club couldn’t risk suffering a points deduction for fielding a contracted professional. This then gave an unexpected debut for Danny McKenzie from the club’s Under 18’s team. McKenzie got on the bus from Thornhill as a travelling spectator but by the time he arrived in Hull he was in the starting thirteen!

As Thornhill arrived in Hull the heavens opened and the pre-match warm up took place in strong winds and driving sleet. However, by the time kick off had arrived the clouds had blown over and the scene was set for an intriguing game of rugby.

Skirlaugh took an early lead when Thornhill were penalised for holding down in the tackle. Jordan Precious kicked the goal to open up the scoring.

The first try of the game was scored by Skirlaugh when a kick forward caught the Thornhill defence out. Christopher Brown raced after the ball and Thornhill’s Anthony Broadhead appeared to have made a brilliant last ditch tackle. However, Broadhead’s chase was all for nothing. Brown picked up the ball and powered over for a try between the posts. Jordan Precious converted.

But it was at this point that Thornhill started to make an impression on the game. After weathering the initial Skirlaugh onslaught the home team seemed to become increasingly frustrated as the game wore on. Time and time again some poor handling and block busting tackles from Thornhill defenders forced the ball to go to ground. Add to these dropped balls a couple of missed attempts at goal and Skirlaugh were letting too many opportunities slip through their fingers.

Just before half time man of the match for Thornhill, Johnny Campbell slotted over what appeared at the time to be an irrelevant drop goal. As the game unfolded, how vital this one point would prove to be.

MOM Johnny Campbell kicked a vital drop goal.

It was really in the second half where Thornhill came into their own. Youngsters Ben Kendall and Scott Green were simply outstanding and had too much go forward about them for Skirlaugh to contain. Add to this the almighty runs of Anthony Harris and Lee Schofield and Thornhill really were the dominant force.

This dominance was underlined early in the second half when Scott Green chipped the ball towards the Skirlaugh in goal area. Skirlaugh made a mess of trying to clear the kick and Anthony Broadhead was on hand to pounce on the ball and score the try. Liam Morley converted.

A second Thornhill try followed shortly after as the Trojans blitzed their hosts try line. This time it was a Richard Pachniuk pass which sent Benny Kenny charging over from twenty meters out. The try was scored and Liam Morley converted as the Trojans took the lead for the first time.

Thornhill continued to defend enthusiastically as the half wore on forcing Skirlaugh into making a catalogue of handling errors.

A further penalty goal from Liam Morley nudged Thornhill further into the lead.

The game then became a real toe to toe affair as Skirlaugh never lost belief in their ability to score. This belief eventually paid off when in the last minute Brett

Waller ploughed over the try line from short range. Jordan Precious converted to cut Thornhill’s hold to only one point.

The Trojans held on with their superb defence proving to be vital. When the full time whistle went the Thornhill players embraced each other as they celebrated their survival in the Premier Division.

Match report compiled by Andrew Byram.