Thunder leave it late to grab dramatic win

NEWCASTLE Thunder left it late to come out on top 24-18 in an edgy encounter against Oldham at Kingston Park Stadium yesterday in a dramatic finale to a game that at times failed to fire.

Livewire fullback Theerapol Ritson was the man who secured the spoils for the home side with a decisive, well-worked try three minutes from time.

Oldham opened the scoring with a close-range effort after capitalising on a Thunder mistake.

Going close to a second, Thunder had the powerful last-ditch efforts of Mo Agoro to thank for keeping Oldham out.

A moment of magic from Theerapol Ritson saw Thunder’s full-back darted down the wing before employing some fancy footwork to get his side on the front foot.

Agoro resisted the attentions of three defenders to pump his way over from close range, with Remy Marginet adding the extras.

Oldham opted to kick at goal when Thunder gave away a penalty 20m from their line with half-time approaching, but the relatively straight forward kick was pushed wide across the face of goal.

All square following the break, Oldham bagged two quick-fire tries.

With some clever offloads out of the tackle allowing Lee Kershaw to come on to play the ball at pace, the winger crashed his way through the Thunder defence to take the lead before an enforced repeat set gave them a 12-point cushion.

Having made Thunder concede a goal-line drop out with a neat chip through, Luke Nelmes made sure that it counted with another score owed to determination and power.

With 15 to go, Ritson got Thunder back to within one score when a switch of direction saw the Oldham defensive line contract and create an acre of space into which Lewis Young chipped a well-weighted kick that the fullback scooped up.

Thunder then found themselves with a two-on-one and an expertly executed pass allowing Marginet a free run to the line.

It then came down to Thunder’s fleet-footed Cumbrian to seal the deal. Playing off a scrum following an Oldham forward pass, the ball was worked out to the wing where Ritson arced around two defenders into free air, before hitting the jets for a converted try.

A penalty in the final seconds gave Oldham a shot at securing a draw but with only one tackle to make that happen, Thunder were able to see off the threat and take the win.