Wigton end the season with a well deserved victory

Wigton made the long trip to Littleborough for the final game of the season hoping to end a run of three consecutive defeats. The match kicked off in glorious sunshine with Wigton having some early possession only for the ball to be knocked on several times interrupting the flow of the game. However, on 14 minutes a scrum on the Wigton 5m line saw the powerful Littleborough forwards drive the Wigton pack backwards to score the 1st try of the match, a straightforward conversion gave the home side a 7-0 lead. Wigton fell further behind on 22 minutes when a knock on was collected by the Littleborough attacker who touched down beneath the posts for a second converted try extending the lead to 14-0.

Despite the score Wigton were very much in the game and a quick break along the touch line allowed Jay Henderson to score Wigtons first try, the conversion was missed but the lead had been reduced to 14-5. Wigton were now running the ball at every opportunity with great breaks by Oliver Lewis and Richard Moffatt and on 28 minutes a kick through by Aron Henderson was touched down by Stephen Harris for Wigtons 2nd try, David Hanabury slotted over the conversion to bring the score to 14-12. A penalty on 34 minutes gave Wigton the chance to run the ball which they did with great efficiency and a clever offload by David Hanabury saw Stephen Harris burst through the defence to score Wigtons 3rd try, Hanabury knocked over the conversion giving the visitors a 19-14 half time lead.

Within a minute of the second half starting David Hanabury has slipped through the home defence to give Wigton a bonus point try and although the conversion was missed Wigton had established a 24-14 lead. Littleborough forced themselves back into the game mainly due to a couple of poor clearance kicks by Wigton and a long kick to the corner was gathered by the Litleborough winger who touched down to reduce the deficit to 24-19 on 45 minutes. On 56 minutes the Littleborough scrum half was shown a yellow card by the referee for a high tackle. From the resultant penalty Wigton controlled the ball through the forwards and as the ball was passed out to David Hanabury he glided through the home defence for a trademark try. The conversion was missed but the Wigton lead had been increased to 29-19.

Once again Littleborough edged themselves back into the game but the Wigton tackling was tremendous all afternoon giving the home side very few opportunities to trouble the scoreboard. A Wigton penalty on 73 minutes was slotted between the posts by Hanabury to give Wigton a 32-19 lead. Wigton were able to keep control of the ball for the remaining minutes of the match and as the referee called the last play Dan Reed booted the ball out to give Wigton a well deserved victory much to the delight of the players and the travelling supporters.The whole team played with confidence throughout with plenty of powerful running with the ball and a great defensive performance when required. A big thank you to the Littleborough officials for their superb pre and post match hospitality.