Match Report: Workington Town v Newcastle Thunder 1895 Cup Prelim Round

Newcastle Thunder travelled to Workington Town in the Preliminary round of The 1895 Cup with a home tie against Batley Bulldogs the reward for the winner in round one.

In a really physical encounter in Cumbria it was Thunder who came out on top 10-28 victors to book a home tie with Batley on the weekend of 18th April.

Workington started brightly with ex-Thunder man Evan Lawther being used as Workington's attacking threat, he put Mason Lewthwaite away down the left but Thunder bundled him into touch. The first half was a cagey affair with Thunder having a lot of pressure and on twelve minutes Matty Foster got on the end of a grubber kick through to score the first points of the game, Will Roberts missed the conversion.

Workington did threaten but a brilliant defensive effort from Brenden Santi saw him come away with the ball on the Thunder line to relieve pressure. Thunder did have chances including Joe Law being close to scoring but he was bundled into touch. Workington looked more dangerous when Grant Reid was introduced from the bench as Thunder up till then had done well to stifle the threat of Lawther. Reid added another big carrying option for Workington and he carried hard all afternoon.

Thunder got their second try of the game just before half time when Cody Hunter put a grubber kick through and Noah Whittingham was on the end to score. Will Roberts converted and that took the game to half time and Thunder had a 0-10 half time lead.

Conditions had stayed relatively good through the game and this was the case when the second half got underway. Jordan Lipp went close early in the second half but was forced into touch. Thunder did score soon after when

Jack Smith was on the end of a lovely pass to go in the right hand corner, Roberts did really well to score the conversion and Thunder stretched their lead to 0-16.

Thunder looked dangerous when they went wide throughout the game and pressure told when a miss pass found Brad Ward on the left hand side to score after sixty minutes, Roberts again converted from wide to take the score to 0-22.

Workington started to crank up the pressure and they were next to score when Grant Reid found a gap in the Thunder defence and went over from close range, Jake Carter converted to take the score to 6-22. Workington really had their tails up at this point and an unforced error from Thunder kicking the ball dead gave them a platform to attack. During the following play, a grubber found Jake Carter who appeared from nowhere to score, he converted his try to take the score to 12-22.

With their tails well and truly up, Workington thought they were in to score through the impressive Mason Lewthwaite but the referee awarded Thunder a penalty for obstruction, much to the annoyance of the home crowd. Their frustration was increased when from the following play Brenden Santi powered over to score, Roberts converted to take the score to 12-28.

There was still time for Workington to attack but Will Roberts did brilliantly to take a Workington kick and thwart the attack. Roberts had a really strong game in defence and attack. The full time result was 12-28 and it was very much a case of job done for Thunder in West Cumbria, they can now look forward to a home tie against Batley in round one.

by Phil World