By Ian Golden at Blaydon RFC
South Wales Scorpions got their third win in four games in the north-east on Sunday, but credit must be given to an improving Gateshead Thunder side who gave them a few scares and made the Welsh fight all the way for their 28-16 victory.
The Scorpions learned their lessons from the last two week’s matches and put in what was probably their best second half performance of the season. They kept their focus on the game and scored three excellent tries in that period to complement their 12-6 half-time advantage.
Both sides were hampered by injuries to their playmaker within a minute of each other midway through the first half. Courtney Davies was first to limp off and he was seen on crutches at half-time, while Thunder’s Ben Hardcastle looked to have suffered a similar fate.
Thunder opened the scoring on five minutes when Josh Neilson slipped the ball to Jason Payne who grounded just left of the sticks. Ben Hardcastle converted.
Scorpions levelled on nine minutes when James Greenwood, found a gap, broke free and dived over. Courtney Davies converted.
There could have been a second for the Welsh soon after but Jack Murphy was held up over the line.
But they did score on 31 minutes when Dalton Grant ran over from short range and Jack Murphy converted giving the Scorpions a slender 12-6 lead at half-time.
Scorpions started the second half well but a couple of errors let them down and they allowed the home side to get back into the game.
As the Welsh were near to the line, Paul Stamp intercepted a poor pass and led an attack and while the Scorpions defended that one successfully, a dropped ball allowed Josh Neilson in to score Thunder’s second. Chris Parker converted and the scores were level again.
But the lead didn’t last long as the Scorpions dominated for the rest of the game and were excellent in both attack and defence.
As soon as they regained the ball, they scored. David James with one of his trademark 50 metre plus runs to ground and Murphy converting.
Scorpions extended their advantage straight away when Grant reached over for his second straight from a play-the-ball. Murphy’s kick was slightly wide.
The fifth try came on 62 minutes after Connor Farrell made a clean break and offloaded to Connor Farrer who had an easy score under the sticks. Murphy kicked the goal to give Scorpions a 16-point lead.
Thunder looked for a way back in but continued to be denied by the solid Scorpions defence. Chris Heil was close to grounding twice in two plays after good work from Joe Brown and Jason Payne, but was held short of the line.
Joe Brown scored a last second consolation for the home side but the Scorpions did enough to keep control of the game and win, and it sets them up for a difficult visit to Hemel Stags in their next game which is in a fortnight’s time.