SIDDAL can look forward to the visit of Thornhill Trojans on Tuesday with confidence after getting off the mark in the Premier Division on Wednesday with a 16-14 win under floodlights at Oulton Raiders.

A 77th minute try from Mark Boothroyd, converted by Shaun Blackburn, gave the Chevinedge men the spoils and got their season up and running after their dismal opening display in a 28-14 home defeat by Hull Dockers last Saturday.

Team boss Steve Dyson said: "We deserved it. The players showed more pride in the Siddal shirt and our tackling was good - we got in their faces. It was a 100 per cent effort.

"It is nice to get two points on the board. Oulton have lost their first two games so Tuesday looks a good opportunity for another win but in this league you can't take anything for granted."

Coach Lee Greenwood made several changes to Wednesday's side and the revamped line-up was given early encouragement by a ninth minute try down the slope.

Gary Lewis went close on the fourth tackle before loose forward Lee Gudor kicked through and Chris Marsh raced onto the ball to score. Blackburn converted for a 6-0 lead.

Siddal suffered a double blow on 16 minutes when Mick Shaw was sin-binned for retaliation, after appearing to have been trampled on in a tackle. When skipper Nick Smith questioned the decision he was also yellow carded, reducing the visitors to 11 men.

Oulton took one minute to take advantage, winger Tommy Griffiths drawing Brad Attwood before sending second rower Billy Kershaw in for an unconverted try.

Siddal then tackled their socks off to weather the storm, Luke Simeunovich coming from nowhere to make a try-saving tackle on winger Dave Wilkin.

There was no addition to the scoreline before the interval but Siddal extended their advantage to 10-4 on 46 minutes. Gudor put up a high kick, Boothroyd claimed the ball and winger Steve Hope sent centre Marsh in for his second try.

Oulton draw level on 58 minutes when stand-off Gavin Wood kicked through and second rower Mark Holmes gathered the ball and outpaced the defence for a try he converted himself.

Stand off Darren Phillips was excellent for the visitors while props Lewis and Jamie Wrigley worked hard as Siddal tried to get the upper hand.

However, the home side hit the front with 12 minutes left when Wood took advantage of poor tackling following a scrum to bag an unconverted try to make it 14-10.

Siddal were far from finished and moved the ball to Blackburn, who managed to release it in the tackle for Boothroyd. The try scorer had the sense to get as near to the posts as possible and Blackburn kicked the winning goal.