Gloucestershire All Golds 18

Newcastle Thunder 21

Newcastle Thunder gained payback for their elimination from the iPro Sport Cup at the hands of the All Golds with a crucial league win over the same opponents, writes Chris Wilson.

In an increasingly fraught encounter, they showed better game management and took their chances while the All Golds frittered theirs away with errors at crucial times.

Thunder contained the All Golds round the fringes of the ruck and with Benn Hardcastle and Lewis Young profiting from the go-forward of starting props Vincent Rennie and Rhys Clarke they made ground with relative ease. Craig Cook was also busy on his return to Cheltenham after a stint as an All Gold in 2014 and his presence on the field was crucial as the visitors edged home.

Things started well for the home side, for whom it was a must win game for their top eight ambitions and they opened the scoring after three minutes.

On the back of a repeat set, some good ball movement opened a hole and Lamont Bryan was sent through it. Matt Bradley added the goal on his return on loan from Swinton.

The Thunder replied just before the quarter hour. Slick interplay between Hardcastle and Dan Parker set up the try for Ali Blair after Tom Ruediger had the defence going backwards with a break in midfield.

Hardcastle locked the scores up and that’s how it stayed for the next ten minutes as both sides threw themselves at each other looking for the breakthrough.

After Josh Allison had been held just short, the All Golds broke the deadlock when Chris Barlow squeezed over in the corner for an unconverted try.

Ten minutes before the break, the Thunder took the lead. Lewis Reece conceded a penalty for dissent and the Thunder attack ended with Evan Simons forcing his way over under the posts to present Hardcastle with an easy goal.

It took barely a minute of the second half for the Thunder to extend their lead. Joe Brown celebrated his 150th game for the club with a superb run to the posts, Hardcastle again converting for an 18-10 lead.

This rocked the All Golds but it took them only six minutes to respond. Bradley’s deft kick to the ingoal was touched down by Alex Davidson after a slight juggle.

Bradley converted and then added a penalty after Thunder pinged for obstruction to level the scores but Hardcastle restored the two point cushion with a penalty of his own.

Back to back penalties took them back on the attack and after Lee Paterson was held up, Hardcastle added a drop goal with ten minutes remaining.

The All Golds had plenty of half chances with James Rowland creating holes and on at least three Occasions, Josh Allison was almost put away but the ball either went loose or the move was snuffed out.

The Thunder’s game management proved to be better over the final desperate minutes as the All Golds searched for the winning score with increasing desperation but the points went back to the North East as the Thunder held on for what could be a crucial victory.