Mon 4th Apr: Ch: Newcastle Thunder v Widnes Vikings KO 19:45 (Premier Sports)

[Futtocks]

Good team effort for that try, converted for a 10-nil lead.

[Phil]

Newcastle on the end of a couple of rough calls there 

[Pigeon Lofter]

Better choice of position for the broadcast cameras tonight, it's usually in the huge stand opposite for both codes.

[dkw]

That was never a try.

[The Phantom Horseman]

Controversial try for Widnes as Lawton is tackled and appears to be stopped a couple of inches short but then puts the ball over the line, think if there had bee a video ref that would have been chalked off. 10-6 with 10 minutes left.

[PEANUT HEAD]

That's a shocker from the ref.

[The Phantom Horseman]

1 minute ago, PEANUT HEAD said:

That's a shocker from the ref.

I don't think he had the best view and Lawton pulled the wool over his eyes by celebrating whilst surreptitiously plonking the ball over the line as he did so. Newcastle definitely not had the rub of the green in terms of decisions.

[The Phantom Horseman]

Penalty Newcastle, 12-6, 5 minutes left.

[Pigeon Lofter]

was that offside???

[The Phantom Horseman]

Final score Newcastle 12 Widnes 6. Thoroughly deserved win, Newcastle showed really good team spirit. Widnes were very disappointing.

[Harry Stottle]

2 hours ago, Harry Stottle said:

Both played 6 games, Widnes 4 wins,  Newcastle 3 wins, but the telling thing is Widnes have 75 points difference better than Thunder, Widnes scored 57 points more and conceded 18 less, I will go with the same pattern and predict a Widnes win with a margin of 12 to 18 points.

One thing I didn't take into consideration is that Widnes are absolute sh-ite, ably lead with total mediocrity by Owen's, Smith, Tyrer and Addy the 4 player's  who could have made a difference, saying that Newcastle were not much better it was not a game any coach anywhere could take any snippets from at all to highlight good play.

[welshmagpie]

Haven’t been able to watch. Improved crowd as I know there was a big promotional push?

[Pigeon Lofter]

12-6 to the northerners.

Another enjoyable Monday nights viewing.

[Harry Stottle]

13 minutes ago, PEANUT HEAD said:

That's a shocker from the ref.

It wasn't that good, probably one the most blatant double movements I have witnessed.

[The Phantom Horseman]

1 minute ago, welshmagpie said:

Haven’t been able to watch. Improved crowd as I know there was a big promotional push?

Hard to tell with it being a night game but I didn't think the crowd looked bad at all.

[The Phantom Horseman]

3 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

 saying that Newcastle were not much better it was not a game any coach anywhere could take any snippets from at all to highlight good play.

Both teams were missing a few and there were lots of DR/loanees on display hence the disjointed nature of the attacks, but I think Newcastle who only had one recognised half back deserve some credit for their attitude which was really good especially their kick chases and scrambling defence.

[The Phantom Horseman]

Adam Lawton looked Widnes' only real attacking threat but they seem scared to let him play the full game. He's the modern Tony Banham.

[Piggy's mate]

Newcastle seemed to want it more! Good value for the win and what should have been the tackle of the game to stop the Big fella turned out one of the biggest double movements I've seen! I can only assume the ref was blindsided

[Pigeon Lofter]

Dennis Bets vocal cords seem to have improved. Has he stopped gargling with gravel in the morning?

[The Blues Ox]

Two very evenly matched teams I thought and another decent Monday night game. I didn't see anything from either team that makes me change my view that both teams will miss out on the playoffs.

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

Poor display by the commentary team tonight.  Surely they should get themselves properly briefed in advance.

I refer, of course, to the 'ham and peas stottie' which 'isn't even hot!'  Well no, bonny lad, it's a type of sandwich and the 'sort of pea paste' was pease pudding.  A good ham and pease pudding stottie is one of the things I miss from my time working in Durham and Darlington.

I once had to attend a fairly posh reception in Durham Castle and a Durham county councillor I had got to know was there.  He had seen the buffet food being laid out and came up to me laughing.  "It could only happen in Durham" he said; "all those swanky vol-au-vents and next to them a plate of ham and pease pudding stotties!"

[Futtocks]

2 minutes ago, Wiltshire Warrior Dragon said:

Poor display by the commentary team tonight.  Surely they should get themselves properly briefed in advance.

I refer, of course, to the 'ham and peas stottie' which 'isn't even hot!'  Well no, bonny lad, it's a type of sandwich and the 'sort of pea paste' was pease pudding.  A good ham and pease pudding stottie is one of the things I miss from my time working in Durham and Darlington.

I once had to attend a fairly posh reception in Durham Castle and a Durham county councillor I had got to know was there.  He had seen the buffet food being laid out and came up to me laughing.  "It could only happen in Durham" he said; "all those swanky vol-au-vents and next to them a plate of ham and pease pudding stotties!"

Well, they aren't paid to be culinary anthropologists. What they do is taste something with no preconceptions, and if they like it, they say so. And if they don't like it, well they'll say so too.

[Phil W]

Proud of Thunder tonight, we fronted up and put a shift in.

[WN83]

I enjoyed the game. I thought Mullen was excellent for Newcastle. Strange that Lawton played such limited minutes for Widnes because he looked a huge threat when he was on (even if his try was a shocker of a call). 

[EggFace]

I'm gutted as I live in the North East as Kingston Park is a pain to get and my Rugby mate was working and I don't have Premier Sports....just finished the dishes