Plenty of spirit from Newcastle but the Vikings finally plunder Thunder

WIDNES VIKINGS 33 NEWCASTLE THUNDER 26

NEWCASTLE Thunder showed plenty of spirit in sweltering conditions against Widnes Vikings on Sunday afternoon but left the North West empty-handed, as the hosts struck late to take their fourth win in a row in rugby league’s Betfred Championship.

Thunder twice levelled the game but losing key personnel to injury and critical junctures ultimately ensured they were unable to fully recover from a slow start.

The Vikings were in front after being in charge of much of the opening exchanges and taking the chance presented by forcing a goalline drop-out from the visitors.

The scoring pass was greeted by cries of forward from the Newcastle defenders, but to no avail as former player Adam Lawton crashed over for a converted score.

Four minutes later the lead was doubled as Widnes employed an effective off-loading game close to the line to create a gap for Olly Davies to cross untouched.

Penalties and errors were keeping Thunder on the back foot, but they relieved some pressure in style with a superb individual score from Sam Halsall.

Picking off a speculative floated pass on his own 20-metre line, the dual-reg centre had the measure of the pursuing defenders as he ran in a 60-metre breakaway to secure his 11th try of the campaign.

Craig Mullen’s successful conversion cut the gap to just six points and a brace of penalties against the Vikings gave Thunder the position to equalise.

Stretching the defence, a quick change of direction created space wide on the left and gave Jack Johnson a walk-in as quick hands worked the ball down the line.

An almost instant reply through a converted try from Matt Fleming followed by a penalty goal seven minutes from the break gave the hosts an eight-point cushion at halftime, one that was quickly extended after the restart.

Losing possession early into their first set, the Thunder’s defence did well to ride out the tackle count, but when they lost the aerial battle on the fifth and last, Ryan Ince was able to avoid Mullen’s last-ditch tackle to score.

Thunder began their fightback through Halsall’s second try of the game to bring Newcastle within 10, before they then began to force errors and penalties from the hosts.

They were just four points behind with 15 minutes left as Newcastle capitalised on a penalty after a late hit on Josh Woods as the half-back looked to draw defenders close to the line.

The collision saw Thunder’s number seven forced from the field and Vikings man Lawton sent off the contact with his opponent’s head.

Brad Day was the man to strike from close range from the following set, but the loss of the influential Woods left Newcastle without a recognized playmaker.

His withdrawal compounded the earlier loss of Ollie Roberts and Umyla Hanley and left Thunder in a difficult position to manage their players’ minutes in temperatures approaching 30 degrees.

When the scores were levelled at 26-all three minutes later as a clever kick-pass found Gideon Boafo in free air, it looked as though Thunder might be able to overcome that final hurdle, but the missed conversion made it almost a 50/50 shot as to who would come out on top.

In the end, it proved to be the Vikings as a crucial drop goal was sunk three minutes from time before Fleming punished a final penalty against Newcastle with a converted try with the last play of the game.