Warrington Wolves u19s 32

Halifax u19s 40

A STUNNING fightback by lowly Warrington Wolves Academy deserved better than a controversial defeat.

Wolves clawed back from 34-14 down to 34-22 with a brilliant display of open rugby.

They shocked Blue Sox with three converted tries in the space of six minutes - two from Tom Kilgannon and one from Alan Kilshaw.

Greenwood raced away to score between the posts and seal the win but Warrington can take some satisfaction from an improved performance.

Warrington, with Super League squad men David Alstead and Gary Hulse in their ranks, had the best possible start when a break by Craig Johnson created an opening for Paul Alcock to score after only two minutes.

Halifax replied with converted tries on 18 and 27 minutes before Hulse split open the Blue Sox defence to send the supporting Kilshaw over. Kris Tickle converted.

Warrington were caught napping with only a minute of the first half remaining when Halifax sneaked in for a converted try.

Warrington started the second half brightly and they were rewarded on 43 minutes when Paul Alcock collected a high kick from Tickle to crash over.

Halifax stepped up the tempo and quickly extended their lead from 18-14 to 34-14.

Warrington looked destined to be on the end of another heavy defeat at this stage but they struck back superbly.

Team: David Alstead; Craig Calvert, Paul Alcock, Tom Kilgannon, Chris Matthews; Kris Tickle, Gary Hulse; Mike Stout, Craig Johnson, John Hill, Mike Callan, Danny Fullerton, Alan Kilshaw. Subs: Matthew Pitt, Kevin Picton, James Francis, Barry McGilvray.

On Saturday, Warrington play Salford at Wilderspool, 1.30pm kick-off.