Swinton Lions fell to a fourth straight Championship defeat as they were beaten 34-10 by second-placed Newcastle Thunder.
The hosts kept up the pressure on top-of-the-table London Broncos with a hard-fought win over the Lions in the Northeast.
The home side, fielding a host of players contracted to Super League club York Knights, overcame a Lions side missing Reece Briers, Jordan Brown, Ben Killan and Arron Willis from last week’s 56-0 defeat by Doncaster.
Newcastle opened the scoring after eight minutes when winger Andy Djeukessi crossed in the corner after a pass from Jordan Lipp, and Myles Harrison added the conversion.
Three minutes later, Lipp sliced through the defence to send Will Roberts under the posts for a second early try and Harrison converted yet again.
Lipp, normally a fullback but playing at stand-off, was having an impressive game and he again was the platform for the next try when he sent King Vuniyayawa under the posts, and Harrison was on target again.
The Lions then had a chance as Josh Eaves was held up, and just after this chance Pat Ah Van almost got Gav Rodden over. Thunder added their fourth try in the final minute of the half when Harrison sent Roberts in for his second, but the conversion attempt fell wide.
Roberts’ late try meant Swinton went in at the break trailing 22-0 with a mountain to climb, but the Lions refused to capitulate against a strong Newcastle side and produced a battling second-half performance.
The away side were playing some good stuff but were unfortunate not to capitalise on their chances when they came. When Anthony Murray’s men made a mistake, Thunder seemed to pounce and they went further ahead six minutes after the restart when
the impressive Lipp got his deserved try scoring in the corner, but the conversion was missed.
Joe Law and Noah Whittingham added two more quick tries in six minutes – these were also both unconverted – as Newcastle threatened to inflict another heavy defeat on Swinton.
But the Lions were still playing some good rugby and eventually their efforts finally paid off when Ah Van made a break down the middle and a couple of plays later Harry Higham dived in at the corner for his fiftieth point in a Lions shirt, but Tom Ratchford could not convert from the touchline.
From this point on it was all Swinton, and they went close twice only to be penalised near the line for incorrect play the balls.
There was one final attempt for Thunder when fullback Jack Smith broke clear down the left and looked an all-out scorer before Trent Kelly-Duffy caught up with him and ankle-tapped him into touch. The Lions added their second try with three minutes left when Aaron Lynch latched onto an Ah Van short kick to score on the left and Ratchford added the conversion.
All in all, it an impressive effort from the Lions against a full-time side.
Match report by Ian Rigg, images supplied by Newcastle Thunder.
