Match Report: Dewsbury Rams v Newcastle Thunder Betfred Championship Round 26

Newcastle Thunder ran in eleven tries. Brad Ward scored five tries taking him to the top of the Betfred Championship try scoring charts as they produced a dominant display at a wet Dewsbury taking a 6-56 victory as they head into the play-offs.

Thunder had an early try ruled out as Brad Ward was ruled to have knocked on as he chased a high kick. But on six minutes Ward got his try, Harvey Reynolds found Ward who finished acrobatically in the corner. In the main the first half was a scrappy affair with ill discipline and errors being a feature.

Both sides kicked intelligently with Dewsbury’s use of the short kick causing Thunder problems. Will Roberts was the catalyst for Thunder’s second try though as his 40/20 gave territory. From the kick, Jordan Lipp produced a lovely pass for Reynolds to score, Harrison converted and Thunder led 0-10 after 16 minutes.

A penalty for a hit off the ball gave Thunder territory and from that territory, Thunder went through the hands and Jude Ferreira found George Birch who slid over in the corner to score, Harrison missed the conversion from wide but Thunder led 0-14.

Dewsbury tried to find their way into the game but some good tidying up from Birch stopped the Rams from getting on the scoreboard. Harvey Reynolds scored his second of the afternoon as a Jordan Lipp pass found Brad Ward who broke down the left, Ward found Reynolds who was tackled and not held, he got to his feet and powered over to score, Harrison converted and Thunder led 0-20 just after the half hour mark.

Paul Sykes was called on from the interchange bench in his final match after 28 seasons of rugby league and his introduction saw Dewsbury score as Bailey O’Connor went over in the left corner. Sykes kicked the conversion from the touchline and reduced the deficit to 6-20.

The game became scrappy in the rain and this suited Dewsbury alongside some Thunder ill discipline. But some committed Thunder defence kept Dewsbury at bay and the half time score was 6-20 in miserable conditions.

The second half started positively for Thunder with Will Roberts keeping ball in hand on the last and making good ground but Birch was stopped. Dewsbury upped their physicality and some Thunder ill discipline gave them a platform but again Thunder defended excellently to keep Dewsbury at bay.

The first of seven second half tries came on 50 minutes as Will Roberts showed great composure as the defence rushed at him, he jinked and then threw a lovely long pass to Ferreira who still had work to do but finished brilliantly, Harrison converted from the touchline and Thunder led 6-20.

Shortly after, Thunder took advantage of Dewsbury kicking it dead from kick off and Jordan Lipp passed to Mitch Clark who’s power saw him go over the line to score running a hard line in the process, Harrison converted and Thunder led 6-20.

Thunder’s tails were up here and they looked dangerous going wide showing some of the trademark running rugby Thunder fans have been treated to this season. Lipp broke as we’ve seen him done on many an occasion this season, Brad ward was on his shoulder to score his second of the afternoon, Harrison converted to take the score to 6-38.

Dewsbury rallied again but again the Thunder defence stood tall and worked hard for each other, as good as the attacking rugby was the defence was excellent.

Brad Ward scored his hat trick on 65 minutes as he went over in the corner to take the score to 6-42. Again Dewsbury kicked dead from kick off and Thunder again capitalised. A long pass made its way to Ward who finished acrobatically for the second time in the game to score his fourth of the afternoon, Harrison missed the conversion but Thunder led 6-46.

The try of the game came on 72 minutes, Jordan Lipp broke and had some neat interchange play with Ward, Lipp had the ball and then his sensational back of the hand offload found Ward who went over for his fifth of the afternoon, Harrison’s conversion was successful from the touchline. That took the score to 6-52 and the travelling Thunder fans were in fine voice.

Despite the conditions, Thunder were playing some excellent rugby although Dewsbury did rally one last time but Thunder’s commitment in defence was rewarded as they earnt a penalty.

The final try came just before the hooter, Thunder looked to go wide but Myles Harrison cut back inside and carried a couple of defenders with him to score. Ukuma Ta’ai took over kicking duties but missed the conversion.

It was a convincing win for Thunder who can look forward to play-off rugby. Play-off fixture details will be released in due course