Gav Rodden hat-trick as Swinton Lions ease past Newcastle Thunder

NEWCASTLE THUNDER 6 SWINTON LIONS 48
IAN RIGG, Crow Trees, Sunday

GAV RODDEN grabbed a hat-trick of tries as Swinton made it two wins out of two outings with a runaway victory over a Newcastle side playing their first league match.

Thunder had the better of the early exchanges and forced a goal-line drop-out on seven minutes.

But they saw little of the ball for a spell after that as the Lions took charge.

Ellis Anderson went close before Mitch Cox was held up, but Rodden opened the Swinton account on eleven minutes after a nice short pass from Alfie Sinclair. Dan Abram converted.

Newcastle secondrow Alex Taylor was sent to the sin bin for holding down and Swinton made the most of the extra man with Anderson going over on the left, although there were no extras this time.

Sinclair was held up under the posts and from the play the ball, possession went right for Harry Higham to score, although Abram was again off the mark from the tee.

Newcastle hit back just before the half hour when Alex Donaghy scored under the post from a nice, angled run and he converted too.

Bobby Shingler was held up for Swinton before Adam Sidlow went close but knocked on.

Just before half-time, Tommy Porter shot through a gap to score on the right and Abram converted as the hooter sounded for a 20-6 lead.

Swinton went further ahead four minutes after the break when Rodden broke some tackles to score on the left and Abram goaled.

It got even worse for Newcastle when Jordan Paga shook himself free of four defenders to score by the posts, leaving a straightforward conversion.

Rodden completed his hat-trick on 53 minutes, chasing a Paga kick to notch, and Abram added the two.

Just after the hour, Sidlow crossed from short range and Abram converted.

The final try came with two minutes left when Paga kicked forward, and Anderson chased to touch the ball down. Abram missed from the tee.

GAMESTAR: Swinton halfback Dan Abram controlled the game throughout.

GAMEBREAKER: A strong start to the second half enabled the Lions to pull well ahead.

MATCHFACTS
THUNDER
1 Alex Donaghy
5 Sean Croston
3 Tom Siddle
4 Jacob Rennison
2 Jake Dickinson
6 Charlie Yeomans
7 Elliott Shaw
8 Harry Price
9 Will Lintin
10 Josh Stoker
11 Alex Taylor
12 Seth Clapham
13 Tobias Gibson
Subs (all used)
14 Gabriel Parker
17 Harry Lowery
18 Owen-Tyler Cole
16 James Snowden

Tries: Donaghy (29)
Goals: Donaghy 1/1
Sin bin: Taylor (11) – holding down

LIONS
1 Louie Roberts
2 Ellis Anderson
5 Harry Higham
22 Aaron Lynch
3 Reagan Sumner
14 Jordan Paga
19 Dan Abram
10 Bobby Shingler
21 Ben Hartill
33 Alfie Sinclair
11 Gav Rodden
12 Mitch Cox
29 Trent Kelly-Duffy
Subs (all used)
18 Tommy Porter
16 Finley Beardsworth
28 Dylan Kelly-Duffy
8 Adam Sidlow