Oulton Raiders 14-36 Thornhill Trojans

Correspondent

A superb effort from Thornhill Trojans over the course of eighty minutes saw them out play reigning Champions Oulton Raiders. Whether the Oulton players had their mind on next weeks trip to France is a matter of opinion, but on the day the Trojans won the physical mid field battle. With a substitute bench loaded with big forwards, Thornhill coach Paul March made several shrewd interchanges during this game to ensure his side's grip never weakened.

At the heart of this mighty pack performance was man of the match Richard Pachniuk. Pachniuk lead from the front admirably causing the Oulton team a cart load of problems. The crafty work of Richard Pachniuk seemed to at times frustrate the home team as they struggled to contain him. Even when he was caught in possession a deft pass out soon ensured the ball found its way into the hands of one of his supporting team mates.

James Folan, Scott Woodcock, Lee Schofield and Rob Carruthers all had massive parts to play in this victory. Their go forward seemed unstoppable at times and with livewire Kieran Talbot at loose forward the Trojans were quite formidable in action.

Liam Morley playing in the stand off position produced a very mature performance with some brilliant infield kicking. Morley also linked well with young scrum half Liam Brooke.

Oulton opened the scoring when Thornhill were penalised for holding down in the tackle. Scott Goodall kicked the penalty goal but then the visitors gave their hosts a taste of things to come.

Craig Holmes triggered the attack when he sent out a long searching pass which found Anthony Broadhead. Broadhead's well timed pass then put Johnny Campbell diving over for a try in the corner. Craig Holmes converted.

After Scott Goodall had kicked his second penalty goal Thornhill once again sprung into life to produce some well drilled set plays. These set plays saw Thornhill dominate the game and eventually Oulton's defence cracked.

With play close to the Oulton line Richard Pachniuk produced a fabulous kick to the right hand corner. In the process of kicking the ball Pachniuk was wiped out with a bone crunching tackle. However, the tackled failed to spoil the accuracy of the kick and the ball landed perfectly for Scott Redgwick to pounce and score the try. Craig Holmes converted.

The scoring continued when with play once again close to the Oulton try line Liam Brooke sold a peach of a dummy. The Oulton defensive line parted and Brooke nipped through to go over for a try. Craig Holmes converted and Thornhill looked to be in the driving seat at half time.

As expected the Oulton side came out for the second half looking to draw first blood. This they did when a Thornhill player shot out of the defensive line to try and intercept a pass. The interception failed and Chris Dunnill darted though the exposed defence to go over for a try. Scott Goodall converted.

But just as Oulton were looking to make an impression on this game Liam Morley chipped forward towards the corner. Substitute Shane Davies won the chase and touched down for an unconverted try.

The Oulton team had clearly targeted Richard Pachniuk in the second half. When Richard Pachniuk took exception to a stray elbow players rushed in to ensure tempers didn't boil over. With no punches exchanged the referee saw no need to stop play, Liam Morley played to the whistle and ran half the length of the field to score a try. The goal was missed and once play got underway. Oulton took advantage of a missed tackle for Chris Dunnill to score his second try of the game.

Some fine kicking from Liam Morley then put the result beyond doubt. A chip forward from Morley saw the ball bounce into the right hand corner. Scott Redgwick got the final touch to score his second try of the game. From out wide Craig Holmes was desperately unlucky with the kick as the ball hit the post.

It was another Morley kick, this time to the left hand corner, the created the final try of the game. Johnny Campbell grabbed hold of the kick to score a try in the corner. Holmes made no mistake with the goal kick this time.

This was a fantastic effort by the Trojans to beat the Champions on their own patch.

Report by Andrew Byram

MATCH FACTS

Oulton Raiders 14

(Blue & Yellow)

1)      Tommy Griffiths
2)      James Mann
3)      Chris Dunnill 2 Tries
4)      Stephen Jakeman
5)      Lee Hall
6)      Gavin Wood
7)      Scott Goodall  3 Goals
8)      Sasch Brook
9)      Andrew Williamson
10)  Nicky Leckenby
11)  Ian Booth
12)  Shaun Ibbetson
13)  Billy Kershaw

Subs:
14)  Tommy Skerrett
15)  Lee Williamson
16)  Stephen Docherty
17)  Carlos Sanchez
 

Thornhill Trojans 36
(White & Blue)

1)      Craig Holmes   4 Goals
2)      Johnny Campbell  2 Tries
3)      Rob Copley
4)      Jason Firth
5)      Scott Redgwick   2 Tries
6)      Liam Morley   1 Try
7)      Liam Brooke    1 Try
8)      Rob Carruthers
9)      Richard Pachniuk
10)  Lee Schofield
11)  Matthew Roberts
12)  Anthony Broadhead
13)  Kieran Talbot

Subs:
14)  Vinny Johnson
15)  Scott Woodcock
16)  Shane Davies   1 Try
17)  James Folan

Referee – Andrew Smith (Salford)
Man of the match – Chris Dunnill (Raiders) Richard Pachniuk (Trojans)