MATCH PREVIEW: NEWCASTLE THUNDER V MIDLANDS HURRICANES (BETFRED LEAGUE ONE ROUND 4)

Canes and Thunder to clash in Purple Rain Derby

After toppling Keighley Cougars for the first time away from home, Head Coach Mark Dunning’s Midlands Hurricanes will make the long trip North-East to take on Newcastle Thunder at their new home ground of Blaydon RFC.

It is safe to say that last week’s clash with Keighley was a classic “game of two halves” - a relentless first-half performance saw the Canes go into the changing rooms 24-8 up and, based on that lead, many around the stadium thought the result might be a foregone conclusion. Whatever Keighley Cougars interim coach Jordie Hedges said to his men in the sheds clearly worked, as the hosts returned fired up and ready to impose a relentless effort to get themselves back into the game. The only points the Canes secured in that second forty was a Jake Sweeting penalty on 60 minutes, and as fate would have it this would be all that separated the two sides by the time the final hooter sounded.

The Canes go into the game top of the Betfred League One table after three games, with the away victories at Cougar Park (24-26) and the Victoria Pleasure Ground (14-16) coupled with a home draw to Workington Town (16-16). They also go into the game as one of only three teams in the league that remain undefeated (alongside North Wales Crusaders and Workington Town). Notwithstanding that, the Canes will need to retain the professionalism and grit that has led to such a strong start if they want to keep this momentum going - last week’s performance shows that even seemingly comfortable leads can be undone just as quickly.

Turning to our opponents, Newcastle Thunder continue to go through a period of transition following their relegation from the Betfred Championship at the end of the 2023 season. Initially faced with the prospect of folding altogether after a change of ownership, the Blaydon-based outfit were able to assemble a largely youthful team that competed for the full season on the back of a limited pre-season, and this challenge was reflected in some of the scores that Thunder found themselves on the receiving end of. That is not to say Thunder did not compete, and despite failing to record a win last year they had competitive contests with Cornwall and ran a number of other teams such as Rochdale Hornets and Workington Town close at home.

Looking at their League One campaign so far, Newcastle Thunder sit 10th in the table following a home defeat to Swinton Lions (6-48) and an away defeat to Cornwall (32-22). In terms of head to head results, the Canes had a clean-sweep against Thunder last season as they beat them twice at home (70-16 and 66-4) and once at Thunder’s previous home ground of the Gateshead International Stadium (10-44). With a full pre-season behind them and a competitive showing against Cornwall last weekend under their belt, Newcastle will be hoping to put a dent in Midlands momentum on home turf. Mark will no doubt be reminding his players that previous results are irrelevant and that every player will need to be ruthless and professional to leave with the all important two points.

Your www.enjoytravel.com 21-man squads:
Newcastle Thunder
George Birch
Leo Bradley
Seth Clapham
Sean Croston
Jake Dickinson
Alex Donaghy
James Farrar
Tobias Gibson
Lloyd Hall
Matthew Handy
Michael Hansen
William Linten
Harry Lowery
Harry Price
Jacob Rennison
Elliot Shaw
Thomas Siddle
Joshua Siddle
Alex Taylor
Mac Walsh
Charlie Yeomans

Midlands Hurricanes
1 - Todd Horner (Sponsored by Yorkshire Ceiling Services)
2 - Matty Chrimes (Sponsored by Lowry Recruitment)
3 - Ryan Johnson (Sponsored by Hull Wyke Rugby League)
4 - Ross Oakes (Sponsored by Geoff and Maureen Hammond)
6 - Jake Sweeting (Sponsored by In Memory of Robert and Stephen Sweeting)
8 - Jon-Luke Kirby (C) (Sponsored by EJ Interiors Ltd)
9 - Danny Barcoe (Sponsored by St Katherine’s Carpets)
11 - Tom Wilkinson (Sponsored by JW Visual)
12 - Josh Jordan-Roberts (Sponsored by 39 Steps Consulting)
13 - Mikey Wood (Sponsored by MG Electrical Contractors Ltd)
14 - Aiden Roden (Sponsored by Enjoy Travel Group)
15 - Aaron Willis (Available to Sponsor)
16 - Ellis Hobson (Sponsored by GLLEE UK Ltd)
17 - Kieran Moran (Available to Sponsor)
18 - Zeus Silk (Sponsored by This is Warrior)
19 - Marcus Green (Available to Sponsor)
20 - Elliott Morris (Sponsored by GLR Energy Ltd)
21 - Sullivan Medforth (Sponsored by Ideal Building Systems)
24 - Matty Hanley (Sponsored by JGE Wholesale)
25 - Luis Roberts (Sponsored by Crypto Construction)
26 - Ethan Newboult (Sponsored by Leeds Rugby Club)

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