It was a match where Carl Forster’s side were left to rue small errors and a sluggish start against a side in their first pre-season outing of the year.
Whitehaven's humbling has left Forster and his backroom staff with plenty to ponder ahead of the derby against Workington.
Whitehaven were behind after just three minutes as Thunder half-back Tom Shaw finished off a try engineered by former England international Peter Fox and full-back Lewis Young.
However, it owed as much to defensive errors as attacking prowess from the North East side.
Taking advantage of a penalty 20m out from the host’s try line, Whitehaven assumed the lead on 15 minutes thanks to a try from player/coach Forster and conversion from Paul Crook.
Crashing over at pace from close range, despite the attention of two defenders, it was a well-worked try delivered from getting the basics right and showing patience in front of the line.
It was a lead that lasted all of three minutes though, and disappointingly, it was relinquished by a defensive lapse from the visitors.
Having conceded a penalty for holding down, Thunder centre Derrell Olpherts was in after the first tackle of the set, bouncing off Jordan Burns to have a clear run to the line.
It was a try that gave the hosts plenty of confidence, which saw them run in a further three converted tries in a 12-minute blitz to take a sizeable 28-6 lead into the break, with Whitehaven’s cause not helped by losing Forster to the sin-bin for dissent following Evan Simons try on 23 minutes.
Responding immediately to the half-time team talk, Whitehaven made a strong start to the second 40 minutes, with a good opening defensive set restricting Thunder progress to just over half way and a first attacking set that had plenty of physicality and pace loaded into it.
It was an intensity they were able to maintain throughout the opening exchanges and drew due reward on 48 minutes with a try for James Tilley.
It was a nicely-worked try too. Getting the feed at a scrum 15m from Thunder’s line, Steven Fox made a strong initial carry before Forster contributed with another that allowed Whitehaven to reset their attacking line and force Thunder back to their own goal.
From the third play of the set, Tyrone Dalton ran from deep and, with a nice pass out of the tackle fed Tilley, whose diagonal track saw him shrug off the attention of three Thunder defenders to successfully ground the ball.
Steven Roper’s first kick of the afternoon was wide of its mark but it had been a much stronger start for the visitors and it seemingly galvanised their effort.
While Thunder were still looking to press forward, Whitehaven were able to frustrate the hosts, forcing handling errors or lapses in discipline to keep the Tynesiders out.
It was work that allowed Whitehaven to reduce the arrears to 12 points with an hour gone, thanks to a good try from Kurt Maudling, constructed again through simple things done well.
Forster laid the initial ground work with a strong carry that sucked in defenders, and from a quick play of the ball, Dalton again chose a line that allowed Maudling to come in on a diagonal support line and cut through the host’s line.
With plenty of time on the clock, looking much sharper than in the opening 40 minutes, and with momentum building in their favour, it was looking more and more plausible that Whitehaven could wrestle the result back.
Thunder, though, had other ideas and with just over 15 minutes to go, Fox struck with an acrobatic try that took the wind from Haven’s sails.
Working close to the touchline, a neat pass from trialist Jake Woods found the winger, who then sprung over the attempted tackles to score.
Two further tries, one from prop Brett Waller and a second for Fox, sealed the win for Thunder and left Whitehaven with work to do for the trip to Workington.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here