Thunder strikes 13 times for Stags

Hemel looked a decent side when they were in possession but in truth they saw very little of the ball. Stand off Lewis Young bagged a hat trick and showed class all afternoon as Newcastle bossed the middle of the park.

Hemel were not allowed to settle as the visitors chalked up two tries in the opening six minutes, the first in the corner for Blair and a power play on the last getting Young his first of his three.

Hardcastle bagged the easier second conversion, he was to be successful in six of his 12 kicks in the windy conditions.

Hemel had been caught cold but got on the front foot and started to trouble Thunder, Maloney fed Mitch Vincent on 14 minutes who danced his way to the line. Steady conversion bringing the Stags to within four points. The gap was soon stretched by Thunder as Olpherts broke free to feed Young who went in under the sticks.

Newcastle were on a roll now and tries by Joe Brown in the corner and Thorburn with a clever scoot effectively put the game to bed.

Ex-Hemel player Derrel Olpherts made the final try of the half with another speedy run, Gioele Celerino benefitting from his pass to canter over the line.

Thunder started the second half as they did the first, an unconverted try for Centre Joe Brown restarting the scoreboard ticking four minutes in. Almost straight away Thunder scored again as Hemel kicked out on the full from the restart, Craig Robertson finishing the move.

Tries by Aldous, made by Young, then Rhys Clarke brought up the visitor’s half century. A length of the field move ended with Ruediger dotting the ball down then Rennie got a clever try before Young finished his hat trick on 70 minutes, dancing through the Hemel defence that had just held out for three repeat sets.

Hemel never gave up and with five minutes to go a nifty kick through by Vincent was collected by himself and he ran through for four points.

Hemel were left to rue their slow start to the game and Newcastle will have taken a lot of positives towards the play offs to come.

Stags head to South Wales Scorpion next on Sunday, September 4.

Hemel Stags: 1 Josh Spearing, 5 Paul Beckett-Stewart, 3 Harrison Brough, 4 Bj Swindells, 18 Tala Petelo, 6 Mitch Vincent, 7 Ben Stead, 10 Dom Maloney, 9 Jono Burns, 8 Aaron Hall, 11 Dave O’Connor, 17 Reece Williams, 13 Malakai Lloyd-Jones,

Subs, All Used: 21 Dylan Readman, 15 Liam O’Callaghan, 23 Mike Stewart, 16 Matt Ross,

Scorers: Tries, Vincent (14) (75); Goals, Stead 1/2