Thornbury Rugby Firsts were not in action, so the Thornbury Thirds took centre stage.

The team, which included James Wood and Liam Pemberton after a sustained period on the sidelines.

A bare 15 players turned up for the encounter at home against Broad Plain seconds, with James Lewis and Chris Till also being in the team.

Fans were excited at the prospect of seeing Wood return after the favourite had suffered an injury that ruled him out for over a season.

Pemberton made his debut at full back alongside Anthony Cooper and Ben Read.

The home side hit the ground running, with players picking up the ball and driving at the Plain defence early on.

Stuart Murray scored the first try of the game, touching down after a strong run.

Pemberton was really impressing from full back and got his first try for the club on his debut.

He collected the ball from Dan Green before running clear.

Craig Walters then scored for Thornbury who were cruising after a spell of heavy pressure from Plain.

Jon Day was also on form with his kicking.

Wood then picked the ball up, 70 yards from the try line and started shifting.

That extended the Thorns lead to 22-0.

However they were then pegged back when Plain scored a try after some good play of their own.

Tyler Tyrell and Anthony Cooper then ran from deep to both score before half time to put the score heavily in the home sides favour at 37-5.

After the restart, Broad Plain looked more determined and scored two quick tries to swing the balance of the game slightly.

The Thorns defended well though, before Chris Till found Cooper who ran through to put the result beyond any doubt for the hosts.

Plain did score a final try to make it 41-22, however the Thorns hung on for their fourth win in five outings.

They now prepare for their next match against Cleeve Thirds next weekend.