Warrington taken apart by the Greens

On paper Wigton's 33-14, five tries to one win over visitors Warrington, looks fairly conclusive, but the truth is, Wigton were never allowed into the comfort zone by their opponents. Warrington are a free-scoring side who came for a contest. The last quarter of the match was particularly hairy as Warrington went in search of at least a bonus point and maybe more.

Wigton got off to a fine start with an early score starting with a lineout some thirty odd yards from the line. Matthew Atkinson's catch enabled Wigton to start driving the maul. Runs round the fringes by the forwards penetrated the 22 as Wigton looked to suck in defenders and then send the ball wide. Warrington conceded a penalty on the five metre line. Wigton tried to create a try with a trademark driving maul. Warrington defended the ploy well, but Wigton kept possession and moved the ball around probing the defences. Finally, flyhalf David Hanabury drew a couple of defenders and released a sweet pass, putting winger Tom Gardner on the outside. The big man went round one defender and then stepped inside a second man, taking his chance well. Johnny Charters, on the opposite left wing, kicked the conversion for a 7-0 lead.

Wigton never lost the lead but struggled to put away their obdurate opponents. Shortly after the restart Warrington were awarded a penalty around halfway for a high tackle. They tapped quickly and centre Steve Pilkington, who was to be a constant threat all afternoon, made good ground. The move was carried on by second row Zak Lythgoe. A superb offload out of contact was produced which put flanker Jake Ashall clear for a try. Full back Matt Rockey was unable to convert, but the score was narrowed to 7-5.

Wigton tried to set up another attack from a driven lineout on halfway. The forwards again attacked the fringes effectively with the pick and go tactic. Centre Will Miller re injected momentum from a standing start, staying on his feet and making good ground. Charters appeared on the opposite wing but his pass to Gardner was on the low side, resulting in a knock on. As Warrington tried to make ground in their own 22, Wigton won a turnover, but loose passing put the ball on the ground and the defence were able to hack clear.

It was now Warrington's turn to threaten with their backs producing some well rehearsed moves. Rockey powered through a slim opening and was foiled by last ditch tackling. When Warrington recycled they knocked on. A quick scrum heel by hooker Richard Jackson saw No 8 Mark Lee get away smartly from the base of the scrum and give Gardner the opening to charge to halfway. Wigton recycled the ball and were again accurate and patient, keeping the ball moving through several phases of play as they moved closer and closer to the tryline. Finally a little space was created for Charters, who took his chance well, junking inside and wrong footing the cover defence for a good try which he converted. 14-5.

Wigton's third try was fashioned in a similar way. It started with a lineout catch by Atkinson followed by a drive, runs at the fringe defence and then good continuity and patience. Miller again did well making ground in crowds to put the attackers on the front foot. Wigton had men in space to the right and passed the ball that way. There was an element of luck as the ball was passed into the ground, but Gregg Smith's foot kicked the ball which bounced up into his hands for a try. This time there was no conversion, but Wigton felt they had breathing space at 19-5.

From the kick off the ball was fielded by second row Mark Deans. Deans loves nothing more than to charge at the opposition with the ball in hand, so everyone was astonished when he decided to be a flyhalf and put boot to the ball. The ball was sliced horribly into the middle of the park to give Warrington the chance to start another attack. When Wigton were penalised for not rolling away, Rockey stepped up to trim the lead to 19-8. He had another chance from a similar position shortly afterwards, chipping another three points off the lead for a halftime score of 19-11.

Wigton will have been frustrated that their passages of good play leading to the tries had been balanced out by some indifferent play preventing the lead becoming decisive. Warrington were only to eager to run the ball themselves given the chance, and had some very capable runners.

The second half set off as it was to go on; messy and ugly with some rugby occasionally breaking out. Both sides took turns to spoil chances of continuity with poor play. The frustration became palpable and tempers frayed. There was an outbreak of niggly push and shove, so referee Martin Denvir felt obliged to call the captains together to try and inform their teams of the need for discipline.

Gregg Smith imposed a bit of order on proceedings with a break and a grubber kick to take play deep into the Warrington 22. Wigton were able to enjoy a period of play camped on their opponents' line. Warrington won a lineout but were held up in the tackle, giving Wigton a scrum. Lee combined with scrum half Fergus Ledingham to give Gardner a chance to attack the line. He was tackled but Wigton retained possession. As they edged forward they claimed a score but a scrum five was awarded. From the scrum Ledingham felt he had scored but another scrum was given. This time Warrington were able to rip the ball out of the maul and lift the pressure with a long clearance kick. The normally reliable Smith knocked on on the edge of this 22, giving Warrington a scrum.

However, as they moved the ball wide, it ended up on the deck where it was swept up by Hanabury who set off upfield. It looked like he would score himself, but he was hauled down by the last defender, but not before he found Lee in support. He passed to Atkinson who was able to beat the covering defender with a little show of the ball, touching down for a try which Charters converted. That gave Wigton a bonus point but at 26-11 Warrington were still not ready to give up.

A silly penalty conceded from the restart enabled Warrington to get into the Wigton 22. Following the lineout, a bout of wrestling developed with a small heap of bodies writhing around several yards from the ball. Mr Denvir gradually became aware of this alternative attraction for the spectators when he turned round. He blew his whistle for the end of round one and then set about to administer justice. It was apparent he was uncertain what had happened and who did what to whom, so he settled on the compromise of showing the yellow card to a player from each side: Gardner from Wigton and flanker Matt Connelly from Warrington. Shortly afterwards Warrington were penalised for dissent, but were able to find an outlet for their frustrations by enjoying their best period of the game.

They won a lineout on the Wigton throw and Pilkington started the first of a series of strong runs. Lythgoe and Rockey also had moments of prominence as Wigton, in the last quarter of an hour, showed an uncharacteristic propensity to fall off tackles. There seemed to be a lot of concentrating on marking up the support runners whilst neglecting the task of decking the ball carrier. A penalty for offside narrowed the gap to 26-14. Warrington now strove for the converted try which would give them a bonus point for narrowing the margin of loss.

However, their passion was not matched by their composure and the ball was dropped at vital moments. Wigton were determined to keep the line intact and pulled off a turnover right on the tryline. Pilkington continued to spark his team whilst Wigton's opportunities to break out of defence were lost with lack of composure in handling.

With time running out, Warrington continued to hammer away in the Wigton 22. However, it was the Greens who had the last word, with another long range strike. Another dropped pass was moved wide by Lee, giving Hanabury another chance to make a break. He made good ground then passed to Charters, supporting his winger to take the return pass and dive over the line to round off proceedings. Charters coverted for a final score of 33-14.

This was not Wigton at their best but the 5 tries were the result of some very effective rugby and the precision and patience lacking at Birkenhead was evidence of a more focussed side.

The sponsors for the day were D A HARRISON LTD and players in line for M O M were named as Gregg Smith, Dave Hanabury and the improving Jonny Charters behind the scrum whilst from the 'engine room ' flankers John Story and Andy Brown were at the heart of things and 'hats off' to Stuart Creighton who completed the full 80 at prop after regular Andrew Bell aggravated a calf problem in the warm up. The award went to Dave Hanabury, for not only orchestrating some impressive attack plays but also for bringing off some crucial line break tackles. He also contributed well toward a more effective field kicking display.