Hockey

A tense first-half finished 0-0 with Thirsk having to defend deep and chances were hard to come by, Pete Harding producing the best with a couple of powerful runs through midfield.

In the second half, Thirsk found themselves behind within seconds of the restart after a Ben Rhydding attack down their right opened the scoring.

Thirsk’s heads then dropped as Ben Rhydding quickly added two more.

A brief fightback from Thirsk saw Paul Doyle slip a short corner to Phil Hughes, who deflected past the keeper.

As Thirsk pushed forward, more gaps opened up at the back, which the speedy Ben Rhydding attack exploited.

Despite making several excellent saves Andy Loftus was helpless to concede two more goals.

Meanwhile, Thirsk under- 14 boys continued their impressive form at the weekend.

The first game against Adel proved the easiest, although goals were hard to come by.

The Adel keeper saved several powerful shots from forwards Charlie Whitfield, Joseph Shannon, Adam Snowden and Nick Edwards.

Eventually, Charlie managed to burst through a couple of defenders to score.

Their next game was against York, which ended 0-0 draw with Thirsk again having several chances with strong runs from midfield by Sam Gardiner, Oliver Hill and Matthew Glegg.

The final game of the day was against Harrogate in a decider.

Thirsk were under some pressure and the defence of Daniel Lawson, Andrew McCann and William Grainger needed to be alert to give cover to keeper Liam Shannon as the game ended 0-0.

Five points from a possible nine means they remain in seventh place in the league out of 16 and may even have moved up places depending on other results.