Match Report: Workington Town v Newcastle Thunder Betfred Championship Round 22

Newcastle Thunder travelled to Workington in the latest round of the Betfred Championship and won a physical encounter 16-40 to stretch their unbeaten run to nine games and stay in second place, scoring seven tries in the process.

Thunder raced into a 0-24 lead in the first quarter of the game as they blew away Workington. Captain, Will Robets scored two tries, his first came as Brad Ward chased a high Jordan Lipp kick and Roberts reacted to score, Myles Harrison added the conversion to give a very early 0-6 lead.

Lipp created the second try of the half as he found Noah Whittingham to score, Harrison converted and Thunder led 0-12 after 15 minutes.. Shortly after, Jude Ferreira broke down the right for Thunder and held his composure as he was about to be tackled to find Roberts to score his second of the afternoon, Harrison converted. Thunder’s emphatic first quarter was completed on 20 minutes as Jordan Lipp spotted a gap in the Workington defence to ghost through to score, Harrison’s excellent start off the tee continued as he added his fourth conversion.

At this point a red hot Thunder side had given Workington no territory or possession and the Fribrus Community Stadium was stunned. But Workington rallied and they were going toe-to-toe with Thunder and the physicality upped.

Workington came back in the game and scored two of their own with Thunder errors creeping in and a raucous crowd backing them. They worked the blindside for Oscar Doran to score and Jake Carter riggled over and converted to make it 10-24.

Thunder had to see out more Workington pressure before half time as they looked to add a third try but Thunder held firm.

Town came out all guns blazing in the second half, looking to score first and put Thunder under pressure on the scoreboard. Thunder were guilty of errors which saw their set completion rate drop. Workington did get their score on 50 minutes as Mason Lewthwaite was on the end of a grubber kick through, Carter converted. With the crowd behind them Workington were right in the game but three Thunder tries in ten minutes killed the game.

Ukuma Ta’ai went over from close range on his 50th Thunder appearance, this was well deserved for Ukuma who put in a big shift. Will Roberts then jinked past a rushing defence as Workington looked to target him, he held his composure and found Mitch Clark who went over to extend Thunder’s lead, Harrison added the extras. The final try of the game came as Will Roberts found Bailey Antrobus who handed his man off, powering over to score.

There might be some frustration in the Thunder camp that they didn’t kick on after a blistering first quarter but they came through a stern test from a Workington side who put in a shift and matched Thunder in the physical battle.

A special mention must go to Ukuma Ta’ai, week in week out his experience around this group shines through. He’s a real role model to a young group of players and everyone was delighted for him that he got a try on his 50th appearance for Thunder.

It’s nine wins in a row for Thunder and with three regular season games to go we sit in second in the Betfred Championship.

It’s a trip to play-off chasing Batley for the Tynesiders next Sunday afternoon with a 15:00 kick off