REPORT | Thornhill Trojans 20 Dons 24

The Dons survived a scare as they progressed through to the fourth round of the Coral Challenge Cup with a 24–20 victory over Thornhill Trojans at the Tetley’s Stadium.

Papua New Guinea international Watson Boas scored two minutes from time to spare the Dons’ blushes and break the Trojans’ hearts.

It was the amateur side who started the better of the two teams though and they took a shock lead when quick hands out on the left edge saw Declan Kaye go over with just three minutes gone.

The lead was short-lived though and the Dons responded within three minutes of going behind, as Aaron Ollett followed up Boas’ clever kick through to score under the posts on his competitive debut for the club.

The Trojans continued to cause problems for the Dons and went back in front with a quarter of the game gone. A penalty 20 metres out put them on the front foot before back-rower George Stott rolled off a tackle close to the line to score.

The Dons looked to find a way back into the game before half-time but found momentum hard to come by, and their cause wasn’t helped when forward Ross Peltier was sin-binned for dissent with eight minutes of the half remaining.

Thornhill took advantage of their man advantage and extended their lead after being awarded a penalty 30 metres out. Casey Johnson converted with ease to give his side a two-score lead at the interval.

The Dons looked to get the second period off to a positive start and thought they’d found a way through when Peltier, fresh from his 10 minutes on the sidelines, powered his way over the line – only for referee Anthony Sweet to adjudge the forward was held-up by the Trojans defence.

Richard Horne’s side closed the gap with eight minutes of the second-half gone, as Kieran Cross marked his return from nine months out injured by bundling his way over from close range. Jack Logan’s conversion reduced the deficit to just two points.

The visitors then went in front for the first time in the game when nice hands out wide saw Sam Smeaton find winger Sam Doherty and he made no mistake with a diving finish in the corner.

Just as the game may have looked to be swinging in the Dons favour, the Trojans scored again when centre Nick Mitchell took advantage of a gap in the defensive line to edge the amateur side ahead once more.

The Trojans looked set to cause a major upset as the game ticked into the final few minutes, before Boas took over with a piece of individual brilliance. He picked up the ball inside his own half, and spotted a gap on the right edge which he fully exploited, showing great pace to get away from the covering defenders.