OXFORD showed their inexperience when they began their Kingstone Press League 1 campaign with a 30-22 defeat by Newcastle Thunder at Iffley Road.

The hosts led twice, but a lack of consistency led to their narrow downfall.

Josh Nathaniel scored an early unconverted try for Oxford, but Newcastle responded with tries from Sam Luckley and former Oxford player Craig Cook, both of which were converted by Ben Hardcastle.

Oxford pulled it back to 12-10 at the break, when Kieran Gill fed Aaron Dobek for a try. Nathan Kitson added the conversion.

A length-of the-field try by Gill, which was converted by Kitson, briefly put Oxford ahead 16-12 early in the second half.

By the hour-mark Oxford were faltering, and Newcastle regained the momentum with tries from Dan Parker and Lee Paterson, both converted by Hardcastle, to make it 24-16.

Then Vincent Rennie bustled through the Oxford defence to score, with another conversion from the flawless Hardcastle.

Oxford kept their heads to finish strongly.

A kick from Dobek allowed Kitson to score from a break which he duly converted, but the Blues were left to rue their previous errors.