Second half let down for the Greens

The score was 15-12 in favour of the visitors at half time with Wigton firmly in contention in the game; however the final score of 44-24 to Liverpool St. Helens tells the story of the season so far for the Greens.

Wigton usually start games well, but were slow out of the blocks on Saturday and went quickly behind to a well worked try in the corner, unfortunately aided by poor Wigton tackling with players bouncing off the strong running Liverpool backs. The visiting fly half did not have his kicking boots on and he failed to convert all of Liverpool’s 3 first half tries. Another characteristic of Wigton’s season has been their ability to score tries and keep in close contention in the first half of games and again this rang true. Tries from Matthew Atkinson after a break from Jay Henderson and David Hanabury who finished very well from 30 metres and then converted his own try meant that Wigton only trailed by 3 points at the break.

However as against Vale of Lune last week, Wigton do not play well in the second half and their difficulties in defence were compounded by a lack of fitness in some of the players leading to Liverpool running away with the game in the second half with the Greens having no answer to the direct running from the Liverpool back row and centres. The visitors scored 5 more tries in the second half with 2 conversions to ensure they came away from Lowmoor Road with maximum points to take them to the top of the league.

A measure of the spirit that exists in the Wigton team saw them battling until the final whistle to secure a 4 try bonus point with David Hanabury scoring 2 second half tries to give him a hat trick and win him the man of the match award from the day’s sponsors although special mention must go to Colin Sessford, Wigton’s openside who put his teammates to shame with his tremendous tackling display although he was comfortably the smallest forward on the pitch. The final try was set up magnificently by Gregg Smith who started the move from his own 22 and covered 40m before a tremendous no look pass put Hanabury away to gain the point which could prove to be crucial as the season wears on.
Wigton need to address their defensive issues and their fitness in order to push them back up the league and away from danger. They can score points and are the measure of any team in the league in the first half but need to be more competitive for the full 80 minutes to ensure their survival.