Lincolnshire and South Yorkshire League

Lincoln City Knights 14
Thorne Moor Marauders 60

Lincoln City Knights dropped points at home for the second time this season as they were defeated 60-14 by Thorne Moor Marauders.

The visitors ran in four tries to go in 26-10 at the break, with the Knights responding through a brace from Graham Cass.

The league leaders scored six second half tries to pull clear, with the hosts only try coming from Meehal Grint.

Coach Dave Moll was left disappointed with the result.

“I think we were never destined to win this game,” said Moll.

”We were already fielding an inexperienced team, and lost half back Nathan Parkin on Friday leaving prop Paul Hamnett to play stand off.

”We lost Donnor and Mitchell early on, but having said that for the first forty we held our own with Hamnett and Pearson working well and Cass looking dangerous every time he had the ball.

“But inevitably the Thorne pressure began to tell in the second half and they ran away with the game with a somewhat flattering score line.”

Half back Mark Pearson added:

“We didn’t play well at all and they dominated every part of the park,” said Pearson.

“It was very frustrating that when we had the ball, which was only for about 15 minutes, we played well.”

It was the visitors who were first on the score sheet with a break from well inside their own half putting the winger in space to score a converted try in the corner.

The Marauders soon extended their lead when a Knights error gifted the ball back to the visitors, who again showed good hands in the damp conditions for another score out wide.

But Lincoln immediately hit back when a mistake from kick off gave possession back to the hosts. After a series drives Jason Ward and Paul Hamnett combined excellently to send Cass in for his first try of the match.

The Marauders added an unconverted try, before the Knights hit back to cut the gap to just four points.

A big hit from prop Craig King allowed Lincoln to regain the ball with Mark Pearson putting Cass through for his second try of the match. Pearson added the extras.

The league leaders extended their lead with a penalty, before crossing for two further tries to give them a 26-10 lead by halftime.

Lincoln were giving away too many penalties and as a result were reduced to 12 men for the second time in the game, which gave their opponents good field position to use the overlap for a converted try in the corner.

The Marauders added a further five tries to put the result beyond any doubt, before Lincoln regained some pride with a consolation try.

A clever cross field kick from Hamnett saw Grint come up with the ball before going over for a try.

The defeat sees Lincoln drop to third place but still among the playoff places. With a must win match away at Rotherham Giants next weekend, there is a chance for the Knights to turn things around.

By Joseph Verney