Trojans beat Sharks to reach final

Thornhills Jake Wilson attempts to shrug of a Shaw Cross tackler during the Jim Brown Cup semi-final.

A bumper crowd turned up to the game and witnessed a comprehensive victory for the Trojans, who will meet Dewsbury Moor in the final.

A Thornhill side brimming with confidence brushed the cup holders, who had beaten them in last season’s final.

The margin of victory could have been far greater as Thornhill had three tries disallowed for forward passes.

Trojans man-of-the-match Joel Gibson had a hand in most of his side’s attacks, with support from Danny Ratcliffe.

Shaw Cross took the lead with their only try after 10 minutes when stand off Andrew Fawkes took advantage of a missed tackle to score.

Thornhill took control as a precision pass from Gibson which put Mindaugas Bendikas away on a 70 metre run to the line and Gibson converted.

Winger Sam Ratcliffe had an effort ruled out before Thornhill struck with two tries and a penalty before half-time.

Scott Green broke and offloaded to Danny Ratcliffe, who covered over half the length of the field to score.

Gibson set up another attack which saw Bendikas send Liam Morley racing to the line. Gibson landed both conversions and tagged on a penalty to put the Trojans 20-4 ahead at half-time.

Good work by centre Ryan Fenton created an opening for winger Sam Ratcliffe to squeeze over for an unconverted try in the corner.

Shaw Cross lost the ball and Bendikas kicked up field, won the chase and toe poked it towards the in goal area.

A Sharks player pulled him back and the referee had no hesitation in awarding the penalty try between the posts. Gibson converted.

Thornhill took advantage of a free play after the Sharks again lost possession. Danny Ratcliffe kicked the ball upfield and the ball bounced between the posts for Gibson to score and convert.

Another piece of opportunism from Danny Ratcliffe resulted in the game’s final try.

With play just inside the Sharks half, Ratcliffe charged down a kick, gathered the ball and sprinted away to score. Gibson converted.

Thornhill had two further tries disallowed, including a spectacular effort involving a brilliant interchange of passes between Gibson, Jake Wilson and Liam Morley but the Trojans booked a place in the final against Dewsbury Moor in August.