Thunder push Whitehaven and the rest of League 1

This afternoon saw Newcastle Thunder put in their performance of the season as Whitehaven were made to work for their 28-10 victory at Blaydon.

Thunder started going toe to toe with a powerful Whitehaven team with big runners such as Jordan Thomson looking to punch holes in the Thunder defence. It was Thomson who opened the scoring with a powerful run and he doubled his score tally for the afternoon to take Whitehaven to a 0-12 lead.

Alex Donaghy took the game by the scruff of the neck and combined with Sean Croston with Donaghy running an excellent line to flat foot the full back. Donaghy converted his try to take the score to 6-12. At this point Thunder were really in the game and had a chance on the final tackle but unfortunately couldn't take their opportunity.

Unfortunately Thunder were unable to deal with a high kick and the ball bounced cruely and Whitehaven kicked through to score to take it to 6-16 at half time.

The second half started with Whitehaven running with intent, it looked as though they have had a rocket at half time. Daniel Spencer Tonks unleashed from the bench in the first half led the carrying for Whitehaven and got his reward with a powerful run to score.

At this point Thunder could've let their heads drop but they didn't and were rewarded with a score from Alfie Horwell who near enough crawled over the line, unfortunately the conversion was missed but it felt like Thunder were back in the game at 10-22. Thunder did have chances which they'll rue but Whitehaven held firm and scored and converted to take a 28-10 victory. Whitehaven were thoroughly deserving of their victory and credit to their players and supporters who were very complimentary about Thunder's performance. One of the things that Whitehaven have done is rebuild this season with players mainly from the community game. Hopefully this is something Thunder can look to do in the future by re-building the mens community game in the north east and giving players a pathway.

From my perspective there's a lot of positives to take from today, everyone put in a shift and Graham Steadman certainly seems to be having an impact on this group. The fact I'm talking about missed opportunities shows how much improvement there was today. Whitehaven and their fans definitely knew they'd been in a game and were made to work hard for their victory.

I thought Alex Donaghy was able to influence play more and he can make things happen. We looked dangerous when we went wide. The other mention goes to Sean Croston who was solid in defence and worked hard.

From a ground point of view, the sound system in the stand has been fixed and that was a huge improvement. It also looked a lot better with the marquee and addition of a couple of toilets pitch side, there was a singer in the marquee too.

I'm pleased the lads put in a performance like that to end the home games this season, we have two games to go at Goole and at Midlands and they have a free shot at those two teams. After that they can enjoy their off season. Meanwhile off the pitch I'm sure there'll be a lot of work going on once we know what the league structure looks like.

I saw a bit of the York v Wigan game too and it was good to see support from Wigan and York in what was a hard fought contest, Wigan had their chances in the second half but ultimately the damage was done in the first half.

Midlands v Keighley

Keighley will be delighted with a 22-24 victory at Midlands, but equally frustrated as this is the kind of performance they are capable of but their inconsistency has cost them this season. Cougars raced into a 4-22 half time lead. Midlands came right back into it in the second half but the damage was done. Keighley remain in ninth while Midlands are in sixth play-off chasing.

Swinton v Rochdale

This was my game of the day in my preview and it didn't let me down. Swinton took a crucial 18-12 victory which guarantees them a platy-off place. For Rochdale they're in fourth place with their play-off destiny in their own hands. They have two crucial games to go as they travel to Workington and host Dewsbury in two massive games for the Hornets!

North Wales v Goole

Goole put in a brave performance as they travelled to North Wales but ultimately an 18-6 half time lead turned into a 31-6 victory as North Wales got back to winning ways. North Wales know that victory in one of their remaining games at home to Keighley or away at Whitehaven will give them the leaders trophy. For Goole they're in seventh with Whitehaven and Keighley chasing them down.

The play-offs and league structure

There are rumours that due to a possible change in league structure for next season the play-offs might not happen. It would be disappointing but also completely understandable that clubs won't want to risk players getting injured. Hopefully the league structure will be confirmed pretty soon with a possible wait till October to determine who will be in the league depending on who's promoted to Super League.