An ugly win against a physical Mildenhall & Red Lodge team

Thorney's first home game of the season got off to a flying start as the ball was moved from the kick-off and found its way into the hands of Michael "Wizz" Croucher who sped down the wing to score with only 2 minutes played. Owen Davies converted 7-0.

Mildenhall used their strong runners and gained ground pressuring the Thorney line but the village team dug in and stopped any momentum. Once again Thorney worked up field giving Stef Almond the opportunity to cross and Davies converting 14-0. Things then went south as a Mildenhall player was red carded for a headbutt and Thorney number 9 Damien King was yellow carded. Mildenhall kept coming and with 14 men they managed to score 14-5. Stef Almond was also yellow carded just before halftime.

The halftime chat was about how we needed to stay composed and play the referee despite some strange decisions going against us. This was taken onboard and Thorney settled back into their game plan. From a well fielded Mildenhall clearance kick, Alberto Lucas Miguel linked with Croucher who received the ball and burst through a hole in the defence to out pace the chasing opposition.

Croucher scored his third try of the game before being yellow carded for some over exuberance in a tackle. With 14 men on the park Thorney continued to pressure and nice pop off the floor from Dino V Perna allowed flanker Tom Deplancke to stride his way across the line from 30 meters out.

Owen Davies was next to score and he stepped up to convert his own try 40-5. Mildenhall didn't roll over and managed to score their second try 40-12 with about 20 minutes to go. Thorney though finished the game with Luke "Dave" Cochrane crossing from a penalty and Davies slotting the conversion.