NEWCASTLE THUNDER coach Graham Steadman was as pleased with a zero as he was with his side’s 74-point tally as the North-Easterners produced another show of strength, this time at Keighley.
It was a twelfth win in 15 league games for the second tier’s second-placed side, who had amassed more than 50 points in each of their previous four Championship outings.
“Defence has been a big focus for us,” said Steadman. “We know we have plenty of strike in our ranks, so stopping other teams scoring will always give us a great chance of winning.
“Against the stronger teams in the division, we have conceded more than we’d have liked, so we’ve been making a real effort to address that.”
Newcastle notched 14 tries through nine different players against Keighley, with Brad Ward posting a hat-trick.
That took the 23-year-old former York player’s league haul to 17 going into their home match against Rochdale.