THORNBURY left themselves too much to do in the second-half as a lapse in concentration just before half-time cost them in their 43-19 defeat to Old Centralians.

Old Cents capitalised on Thornbury’s handling errors and defensive mistakes to rack up a significant, if flattering, final scoreline.

Thornbury kicked off downhill and opened the scoring after twelve minutes. Stuart McWhinnie was twice involved as Thorns drove for the line before play was moved along to Mike Beswick who squeezed over in the corner.

The lead lasted only three minutes as Old Cents attacked from a lineout and after the forwards had pounded the line, the ball was moved wide where the left wing scored his first of two tries in a relatively short space of time, adding another from a quick-tap penalty to open a 12-5 lead.

Thornbury were back on the attack and despite a period of pressure in the visitors' 22, they were unable to profit as Luke Panting lost the ball in a heavy tackle driving for the line.

This successful defence gave Old Centralians inspiration and Thorns were punished for a sloppy end to the half. In the space of five minutes, the centre rounded off an eighty-metre move which featured several missed tackles to cross before a penalty try and an intercept score right on the stroke of half-time opened up an unassailable 31-5 lead. 

During the interval, Sam Poustie came on and Thorns looked more together after the break, and scored first when prop Harrison Bellamy intercepted on halfway and sprinted in for a memorable score.

The third quarter of the game was tight, with Thornbury’s pack shading the battle of the eights, but the backs generally didn’t ‘click’ despite their organisation by Poustie.

Early in the final quarter, Johnson had a try disallowed for a knock-on then Thorns attacked from a quickly-taken penalty on the Old Centralians ‘22’ where Jack Pickles spotted a gap and scored a fine individual try.  Poustie added the extras and with the deficit now reduced to 31-19, hope returned as a try would see Thorns in position for two bonus points.

As the minutes ticked by, Thornbury’s attempts to score that all-important try became increasingly desperate, and rather than applying pressure to Old Cents they applied pressure to themselves.

Then, as the match reached eighty minutes mistakes allowed Old Cents to score two late tries that made the final score an unfair reflection on the game.