NEWCASTLE THUNDER 40 - 6 OLDHAM RLFC

Newcastle Thunder made it back-to-back wins in the Betfred Championship as they performed a demolition job on Oldham, to take a 40-6 win in the Betfred Championship at Kingston Park Stadium on Sunday.

It was a devastating blitz at the start of the second half that did the damage as the hosts ran riot, scoring four tries on consecutive sets in one of their strongest showings of the season to date.

Opening the scoring after eight minutes through winger Jack Johnson, Thunder spent much of the following twenty minutes firmly camped in the Oldham half and were able to make their pressure tell with another try for Johnson as the game approached a quarter gone.

While his first came with slick hands down the line, the second was from superb interplay with half-back Josh Woods, with a deftly placed kick gathered in by the winger who then had enough strength to get the ball down.

A glimpse of things to come followed off Thunder’s return of the kick off as Ukuma Ta’ai carved his way to halfway, but the hosts were unable to keep the fluidity going as play was spun wide and were forced to accept just another territory gain as Matty Wright got the kick away and into touch.

Oldham began to find some rhythm with ten minutes of the half to play but were kept at bay as Newcastle showed a steely defensive resolve.

A tentative start to the second half gave way to the onslaught from Newcastle with Ta’ai getting things rolling with a close-range score after eight minutes as the Tongan international used his strength and range to crash over the line.

That then opened the floodgates with another three tries on consecutive sets as Newcastle’s middles punched their way through the Oldham defence, before the strike runners ensured the tries were scored to take the reward from those efforts.

First up was Sam Halsall, who rose highest to claim a lofted ball on a fifth and last kick and score, then captain Bob Beswick was picked out in support as the superb Ta’ai broke through on half-way and created a three on one, with Johnson following on his other side.

The blitz was completed when Jake Shorrocks sold his marker the dummy to open up his route to the tryline and give Newcastle a 36-point advantage.

All this came with a quarter of the game still to play and learning the lessons from last week against Swinton Lions, where a similarly daunting lead was eroded, Thunder retained control of the game and responded well to what Oldham threw at them.

The visitors got off the mark with ten minutes to go after Thunder conceded three quick-fire penalties, making the most of the opportunity to march up field as Liam Kirk crossed from close range, but by that stage it was nothing more than a consolation score.

That was underlined when Woods crossed for the final try of the game with eight minutes and though a missed conversion stopped him from having a 100% record for the day from the tee, it allowed them to run down the clock whilst remaining firmly on the front foot.

Newcastle Thunder

Calum Turner, Jack Johnson, Sam Halsall, Matty Wright, Alex Clegg, Jake Shorrocks, Josh Woods, Ted Chapelhow, Bob Beswick, Nathan Wilde, Ukuma Ta’ai, Connor Bailey, Liam McAvoy, Evan Simons, Jay Chapelhow, Mitch Clark, Owen Harrison

Tries: Johnson (8, 22) Ta’ai (46), Halsall (49), Beswick (52) Shorrocks (56) Woods (72)

Goals: Woods 6/7

Oldham RLFC

Dan Abram, Tom Brierley, Ben Heaton, Max Roberts, Ryan Ince, Lewis Charnock, James Barran, Liam Kirk, Dec Gregory, Phil Joy, Liam Bent, Danny Langtree, Martyn Reilly, Jamie Abram, Shaun Pick, Luke Nelmes, Matthew Fletcher 

Tries: Kirk (70)

Goals: Abram 1/1